Real
by iWriteAnyStory
Summary: "His first friend, the first person to care, the person that made him stop living that wretched life and made him feel alive again, wasn't... she wasn't..." POV From Train, Sven Eve and a bit of Rinslet too.
1. Chapter 1

**Real**

**Chapter One- Silence**

"_SHE WAS HERE! RIGHT HERE!"_

Train's words echoes in Eves mind like screams in hollow stone. Pleading. Begging. Eve felt sick. Everyone had thought he was getting better. Or tried to believe, anyway. Tried to convince themselves that the almost sadistic treatment was making a difference.

Everything had changed. No one really smiled much anymore, and they spent most of their time in the hospital. Going to the same places didn't feel the same without Train there to bug them and talk non-stop about food. That was the third worst thing. The second worst thing was the operations. He had to have them three times every week. They would continue until his condition had stabilised. Eve would be able to hear his agonised cries of pain cut through the hallways like a blade that tore through her and plunged her into icy water.

The worst thing was more horrible and heart wrenching that anything she had ever experienced. It was that he had given up living. The moment he had accepted her as an illusion, he stopped talking, moving and eating. It was worse than when he thought she had died. O_r when he thought she had died_, Eve corrected herself quickly.

The room Eve stood in was empty, and draped in dust and cobwebs. There were footsteps in the grey snow that caped the floorboards that led to where Train had collapsed three days earlier, and more where Eve had watch him dragged out writhing and shouting two days later. Eves own footsteps led to where she was curled up against the wall, where she had remained for the past five hours. This was where he believed she had lived. It occurred to Eve that there wasn't quite enough dust for someone to have never lived here... She pushed the thought away, furious with herself. If she started thinking like that, it would give Train false hope, and false hope could break him entirely.

Eve stared at the trails in the dust, the evidence of the never ending suffering imprinted on the floor. Suddenly something was rising up through her. The rage made her want to scream. Scream at the world for hurting her older brother. Scream at her older brother for hurting himself with his own mind. And she wanted to scream, and scream, and scream at Saya Minatsuki for not being real.

**Six months earlier**

"So Sven, when are we getting food?"

Sven looked at him in disbelief, "Train, what the _hell_? You finished eating about ten minutes ago!"

"Geez, man, it was just a simple question..."

_That was how the day began. Perfectly normal._

"If we want to get our bounty we don't have time to eat any longer than we already have. We are already behind schedule." Eve said without looking up from her book.

"Fine..." Said Train as they got into the car. After a few minutes of the autumn world rushing past Train asked "So who's our guy again?" Sven held up the poster. "He's got a pretty high bounty. He's killed about thirty people and robbed clean three banks."

"_Nine million Yen!_ You can't be serious?" Train gasped as he looked at the poster. "Phew, that could buy so much time in all-you-can-eat restaurants!"

"Is food all you ever talk about." Said Eve.

"No!" Said Train, looking slightly hurt.

"That wasn't a question." She replied, and went back to reading her medical book. She was on a very interesting chapter about mental conditions, but found herself wondering if scientists gave things complicated names so only they could look smart, seeing as they were the only people who could possibly remember them.

Train looked out the window. The sky was clear and the golden sunlight brushed against the trees at the side of the road, casting long shadows. By the time they reached Kamita City, it was three 'o' clock. By the time they had caught their bounty, it was four-thirty. The criminal was getting into the police car, and Train lent against the wall drinking a bottle of milk. Eve was absorbed in her book again, and Sven was talking to one of the policemen. Another criminal had been swept off the street, and the trio had money that could pay off all their debts, and on top of that live without having to work again for... well, a long time.

An ambulance siren could be heard in the distance. Its wails came nearer and nearer, and it was soon rushing through the same street as them. Everyone looked up when it stopped on the other side of the road.

"Wait, who got hurt?" Train said, looking around, feeling dread rise in his throat as it occurred to him that maybe their bounty had murdered again before they had arrived. He was even more bewildered when about fifteen people wearing masks, helmets and armour, and carrying tranquilliser guns got out of the seemingly innocent ambulance. Onlookers, mistaking the tranquillisers for real guns, fled screaming. Train and Sven yelled

"Hey, what the hell are you doing" and

"What the heck's going on?" almost at the same time as the troops started to advance towards them. A policeman said to one of the men in masks "You mean they're _here_?" The masked man nodded, and it surprised everyone when he pointed at Train and said "That one."

Train, apart from being angry he had been pointed at called "that one", and bewildered about what was going on, was taken aback by the way the police force suddenly flinched way from him. It was like they thought he was some kind of animal... Well, he was the black cat after all... A reason for the sudden appearance of the men with tranquillisers occurred to him.

"I'm not going back to Chronos, so you might as well leave." He said coolly, not moving from where he stood. He didn't want to have to get his gun out just yet.

"We are not part of Chronos. We wish to help you. Please come quietly and we will have no reason to sedate you." One of them replied calmly but cautiously.

Train smirked. "You honestly expect me to believe that?" The troop raised their guns.

"_Wait, stop_!" Sven yelled, and he and Eve ran forward to try and defend Train.

"SVEN, EVE, STOP RUNNING!" Train shouted. If they got themselves knocked unconscious, it would make it all too easy for them to get hurt. The troop was now pointing their tranquillisers at Sven and Eve. Train's eyes narrowed

"_Don't_ get my friends involved in this. What do you really want?"

"Come with us and they won't get hurt."

"_Don't blackmail me!_" Train felt anger surge through him like a wave, flowing through his blood.

"It is not us who will hurt them." The masked man replied.

"Then who-" Train began, but then the troop started to fire hundreds of tranquilizers that came charging at him like an army. He managed to dodge them for a while, but they came continuously and relentlessly, and he had no choice but to get out his gun and try and deflect them. At that moment all the police force had got out their guns and were pointing them at him too, fear etched on their faces. He furrowed his brow. It was as if they expected him to go on some mad rampage and start shooting them all... What the hell was going on?

Eve ran towards Train, intending to create a shield for him, but someone grabbed her from behind and forced her to her knees, her hands pulled behind her back. She could see Sven struggling against two police as they held him back.

"TRAIN!" They both yelled, as their friend tried to dodge the merciless attacks.

Wave, after wave, after wave of thousands of tranquillizers came at Train. He continued to dodge and deflect flawlessly for a minute, but as the amount increased it was getting more and more difficult. He tried to force his reactions to become faster, and was certain he had to be deflecting about one hundred of the needles every second. _Deflect, dodge, deflect, dodge, deflect, deflect, deflect, move, deflect, dodge, dodge, deflect, dodge..._Until eventually one hit. Train felt the effects almost immediately. The world swam and swayed before him, and he noticed vaguely he was now on his knees. Some people were shouting, but he couldn't respond.

"_Cease fire! _

"_Train!" _

"_Train are you okay!" _

"_No one move!"_

"_Hey, Train, get up!"_

Whoever was talking sounded muffled and distant. He couldn't quite comprehend what they were talking about. His balance was haywire as if he was drunk and he couldn't think straight. It was hard to concentrate on anything, as his thoughts twisted and turned out of his grasp and anything he tried to look at slid out of view no matter how hard he tried not to fall over. On top of that his head hurt, his limbs weren't responding properly, and everything was blurring in an out of focus. He found himself staring at the ground, and noticed that ten more of the tranquilising needles had hit. He didn't try to fight as someone was roughly forcing him towards the ambulance. He could hear himself trying to say something but it sounded like gibberish. Suddenly he was lying on the uncomfortable ambulance bed, Sven and Eve's faces blurring and focusing above him, looking worried and shouting something. His consciousness ebbed away and trickled out of reach and everything went black.

* * *

Sven and Eve sat in the chairs at the hospital, unmoving. They didn't speak for what felt like, and probably was, hours. Maybe the silence could cover up and hide what just happened. Maybe if they don't shatter it everything could just be changed, reversed, anything. If they don't speak maybe it will stop being real. But what Doctor Subditus has said rang through their minds, drowning out all other thoughts.

"_You! They told me to come to you! What the hell is going on, and what are you doing with Train!"_ _Sven yelled furiously at the man in the white coat with crimson, hollow eyes they had been directed to. Eve had manipulated her hair into fists and raised them, ready to attack. Doctor Subditus looked at them calmly._

"_Please, calm down. We are only trying to help him."_

"_YEAH, WELL THAT'S BULLSHIT!" Sven said back at ten times the volume. "YOU CAN'T JUST GO ATTACKING PEOPLE OF THE STREET-"_

"_Our intention was not to attack Mr Heartnet-"_

"_HE DOESN'T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH CHRONOS ANYMORE, SO LEAVE HIM ALONE!" _

_Sven looked turned to Eve in shock. She had never shouted like that before, and she sounded like a different person talking without her monotone voice. Doctor Subditus took advantage of the stunned silence._

"_We are not the organisation your friend previously worked for. The force that came for your friend today is part of this hospital. They needed to do so because-"_

"_Look, I don't know what twisted world you're living in, but do you honestly think we're going to buy this?" Sven was shuddering with anger, "There's not anything wrong with him!"_

"_Please, just allow me to explain!" Doctor Subditus raised his voice. Sven looked like he might argue back but fell silent, but fuming. He needed to know what the hell these people thought they were doing, even if it meant listening to them. Subditus began to speak:_

"_We had to section Mr Heartnet because he may otherwise be a danger to himself and those around him. I'm sorry, but he is suffering from a condition called schizophrenia that we believe was triggered by the trauma of his parents murders."_

_What followed was louder than a thousand explosions in a metal room. The cliché was right. Silence is deafening._

"_Schizophrenia: a mental condition with symptoms including delusions, hallucinations, paranoia, and mood swings. Those suffering from schizophrenia often withdraw from people." Eve blurted out, quoting word for word from the medical book she had been reading._

"_I'm sorry-" Subditus started_

"_But Train hasn't had any symptoms like that!" Sven retaliated "What are you playing at-"_

"_I regret to inform you that he has. We had to gather a great amount of evidence before the government allowed us to section him. Please, just let me explain:_

"_As an undifferentiated Schizophrenic, Heartnet has suffered from the 'negative' and 'positive' symptoms of schizophrenia. The negative symptom he suffered from greatly, when he was a number, was withdrawal from people."_

"_How do you even know about Chronos anyway?"_

"_I told you, we had to do a great deal of research on Train. It's impossible not to come across who he used to work for. During that time he would only venture outside to carry out his work or to buy things he needed to live. He did not associate himself with anyone in the outside world. These particular negative symptoms began to be replaced with so called 'positive' symptoms a few years ago. The positive symptoms Heartnet began to experience were hallucinations and delusions that we believe caused him a great deal of pain."_

"_Wait, delusions? But we haven't ever seen him talking to someone who wasn't there or anything like that!"_

"_They became inactive after a few months, but he still believes them as true. His schizophrenia caused him to create an imaginary being, which we believe was a projection of his subconscious desire to be free. He named this person Saya Minatsuki._"

_If the last silence was deafening, it was nothing compared to this. _

"_But- that's not- how? BUT HOW'S THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?" Sven yelled. "She can't be imaginary! She's the reason he changed so much!"_

"_Tell me," said Doctor Subditus, "Have you ever seen a photo of her? Or a keepsake that Train kept because it belonged to her?"_

_Sven fell silent. Eve looked paler than ivory, and was gripping the seat she was sitting on so tightly there was blood trickling down her knuckles._

"_Mood swings are a negative symptom that still remains." Finished Doctor Subditus._

Train does have a tendency to go from happy go lucky to deadly serious in the blink of an eye...But that was only when Creed was mentioned.._. Sven found himself thinking, and doubt started to linger in the back of his mind. But wait! Creed-_

"_What about Creed Diskenth! He knew about Saya! He's the one who killed-" Sven began triumphantly. _

"_Creed Diskenth is subject to mental illness also! Put two nutters in the same room and they'll soon start to have the same delusions!" The doctor snapped suddenly, looking irritated, "The same goes for Preta Ghoul!" His new side vanished as quickly as it had come, and he adopted a calm exterior once more._

"_There are no records of anyone named Saya Minatsuki, and her body was never found. You can look all you want, but I would bet my own life that you will not find any trace of her. I'm sorry, so very sorry, but Heartnet will have to stay in this hospital until we can be sure his condition won't mean he is dangerous. We believe it was the reason he became an assassin in the first place."_

Eve couldn't take it anymore. "Sven." She whispered, cracking through the audible silence. "Sven, what do we do?"

There was a pause before he replied "We will look all we want until we find a trace of her. Then we'll decide what to believe."

Eve nodded. Sven turned to face her, and saw tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Eve! Are you...?" _Are you OK? _He stopped himself from was such a pointless question. Eve nodded vigorously. She hadn't even noticed that she was crying until she raised her hand to her cheek.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

The first two things Train noticed was that he was lying on a bed and feeling much more dazed than he would usually in the morning. Sunlight was glaring through the windows, making the fact his thoughts were slightly had to keep hold of worse. _Come on, pull yourself together!_ He told himself. Why did he feel like this anyway? Maybe he was on a hangover... He must have got really drunk, because he couldn't remember drinking anything...

His wrists were hurting. He moved his hands and heard the clink of metal. _Wait!_ _Handcuffs!_ The events of the day before came rushing back at once. His eyes snapped open and he sat at once. He did so a little too quickly it seemed, from the sudden dizziness that washed over him.

"I see you're awake." Train turned around to see a man wearing a white coat sitting on a chair a couple of meters away. His crimson eyes were distinctly familiar, but Train couldn't quite place where he had seen them before. The entire of the room he was in was white, and it looked like he was in a hospital.

"Who are you?" He said, getting straight to the point, and trying to conceal the fact he was finding it hard to sit upright.

"I am Doctor Subditus."

"Is this an interrogation then?" Train asked coldly,

"No."

"Then why am I handcuffed and why are my legs strapped to the bed?"

"They are for your own safety."

"I don't think they would improve yours, if that's what you're thinking." Maddeningly, Doctor Subditus merely laughed at him. "Please Train, calm down."

"Don't call me by my first name." Train responded as icily as he could. "I said it earlier and I'll say it again. _Who are you_?"

"I told you. My name is Doctor Subditus."

"Don't give me that crap, who are you really and what do you want? And I'd like you to take these restraints off please."

Subditus sighed before speaking. Train had a sudden urge to punch his calm and slightly patronizing face.

"I'm sorry you do not wish to co-operate." At this Train tsked. The doctor ignored this and continued, "But if we do not restrain you there is a risk that your friends could get hurt."

"Don't threat me! If you lay a finger on my friends-"

"It is not us who will hurt them."

"Why do you people keep saying that? If it's not you who will hurt them then who-"

"It is not us who will hurt them. It is you."

Train was so stunned by what Subditus had said it took him a few seconds to reply.

"But- Why- Why would I hurt my friends! _Are you gonna shoot me with a Lucifer bullet or something and make me go berserk on them, IT THAT IT?"_

He was shouting now. Shouting so much that another "Doctor" came running to the door and peered cautiously through it. "Doctor Subditus, is everything alright?"

"Yes, it is quite fine, Sarah, but I think our patient here might need to calm down a little."

Sahara nodded, but not before giving a frightened glance at Train. She came back a few seconds later with a syringe.

"Oh great..." Train remarked, "More sedation, huh?"

He tried to move his arm out the way, but being restrained, it took under thirty seconds to have him sedated and unable to shout a Doctor Subditus. He felt completely drained of energy and dazed. It took him all his effort to say

"You gonna... Do that... Every time I get... Angry aren't... you." His words sounded slurred, but he was determined not to let the drug get the better of him.

"I'm afraid so, Train."

"I said... don't use my first... name."

"Train, I must explain to you why you are here."

And then the Doctor talked. He said Train was suffering from a mental illness called schizophrenia. He said that Train had delusions and mood swings. Train couldn't find the energy to retaliate, and had to merely sit and listen. That was until Subditus said something that was unforgivable.

"One of your delusions was a person. I'm sorry, but you must not blame me or become angry when I tell you that this person was not real. What you believe was their home has never been lived in. I am truly very sorry, but their name was Saya Minatsuki."

* * *

"_Rinslet, please, we need you to look as hard as you can. We can't find anything, and I still don't know what to believe... and... I'm scared of how Train will take this if we can't find her._"

Rinslet had been sitting at the computer for past eight hours. Nothing. She had found absolutely nothing. Saya wasn't on any records of the dead or the living. She hadn't gone to any schools, she didn't have a bank account, she didn't have a driving license, she didn't have a sweeper's license and she didn't have a birth certificate. It was just like she had never existed.

"_I'm scared of how Train will take this if we can't find her._" Sven's words from when he rang her echoed in her mind. And she realised that she was too. She was terrified.

* * *

The first thing could remember when he woke up was that he had shouted a lot. The second thing he could remember was that someone had injected a second drug into him, and he had lost consciousness. He groaned and looked around the room again. Doctor Subditus had gone, thankfully. The last thing Subditus had said flashed into Trains mind, and he felt anger bubbling up inside of him. How _dare_ they say that she wasn't real? If she was imaginary then everything he lived for was a lie. He visualised everything about her. Her bright-blue eyes and her ivory skin. Her dark hair and the way it fluttered in the wind. Her white and pink kimono that made her even more unusual. The way she laughed at everything, the way she would try to pull his face off whenever he insulted her. The way she sang. The way she _died_. It was in his arms under the sky, which was ablaze with colours that streamed across it in mocking celebration. And they tried to tell him that she wasn't _real_? He felt so angry he felt sick. _Ok, come on, calm down Train, and think of a way you can get out of here..._ He told himself, trying to breathe more slowly. He looked around the room. It was empty apart from the bed, the chair, and a vase containing plastic flowers that stood on a cabinet. The restraints kept his body locked to the bed, so he couldn't even get up. Maybe he could have broken free if he hadn't been sedated so many times in... Wait, how long had he been here exactly? He had been kidnapped around four... he had woken up here in the morning... and judging by the light it was morning again... So he'd been here for about a day and a half.

_Wait, I haven't eaten for two days!_

He realised, at the same time as realising he was absolutely starving.

_Ok, you can think about food later, right now you need to find Sven and Eve..._

It was at that moment that someone opened the door. It was the doctor named Sarah.

"You can see him now." When his friends walked through, it wasn't concern, or anything to give away they were going to help him get out of there, that was etched on their faces. It was pity.

"_Nothing? You mean, you can't find anything?" Said Sven, almost pleadingly._

"_No. There's not a single trace of her anywhere." Rinslet replied._

_Neither of them said anything through the phone for a few moments. _

"_What are you going to tell Train?" Rinslet asked._

"_I wasn't going to tell him anything, but Doctor Subditus already has. He thought that Train should understand the extension of his... Condition." This was too hard. It was too hard to accept. But it was true. They had been searching for nearly two days, and she didn't exist._

"_We could hear him yelling a lot. He's unconscious again now."_

"_What do you think will happen when he accepts it?"_

"_I don't know." Sven wished more than anything that he could just lie to Train and pretend there had been a mistake. _

"_Well, I... I'll see you later, Rinslet." Sven hung up, and pulled out a massive cigarette from his pocket. _

"_Can I have one?" Asked Eve. Sven looked at her in shock once more. She looked tired and stressed, and perfectly serious about wanting a cigarette to make the pain feel better._

"_No." _

"You can see him now." The doctor opened the door and Sven and Eve walked through. Train's legs were strapped to the bed and he was handcuffed. Sven felt his stomach lurch as he wondered what Train would do. Train didn't say anything until the doctor closed the door.

"Sven, Eve, listen to me, we've gotta get out of here, I don't know what they want, but they said..." Train trailed off, not wanting to repeat what Doctor Subditus had told him. "Look, you can't trust them- Princess, can you cut these chains? And where's my gun?"

Neither Sven nor Eve could bring themselves to say anything.

"Please, Princess, cut these chains, I need to find out what's going on... Hey... Why... Why are you looking at me like that?"

They still had expressions of pity on their faces. They looked at him wearily and guiltily. The realisation felt like in the punch in the stomach.

"You... You believe them, don't you?" He said, without looking at them.

"I..." Sven started to say, but he didn't know how to continue. Eve stared at the ground and tried to stop the tears from welling up.

"_How can you believe them_?" Train said, fury starting to build up inside him. "_Do I look crazy to you? I thought you were my frie-_"

"Train, please- we tried!" Said Sven, his voice cracking. "We tried day and night for nearly two days, and we got Rinslet to help too! But... We can't find a trace of her."

"There are no schools that have any records of her. She isn't on the list of people with sweepers licenses. She doesn't have a birth certificate. Train, don't be mad. We can't find anyone else who knew her. Please don't be mad." begged Eve. "We're so sorry... Please... You're sick Train..."

Sick. They thought he was sick. They thought he had schizophrenia.

"No." Train shook his head. "No." He was finding it difficult to breathe, and he felt light headed. "No, you can't be serious, you can't. They're making you say this..."

"Train-"

"_She's real, listen to me, she existed! My best friend is real, she lived and she died!_" Trains head was spinning, "_I remember! I remember her dying! You found me afterwards, remember?"_

"Train, stop!"

"_She had bright blue eyes and short dark hair! She always insisted on wearing a kimono and she was the weirdest and most brilliant person I ever met! LISTEN TO ME, SHE WASN'T A DELUSION! I DON'T HAVE SCHIZOPHRENIA_!"

They didn't sedate him that time, probably because that amount of sedation would probably end up nearly killing him. But Sven and Eve had to leave to room. Eve had been crying. Train couldn't believe it. His two best friends had believed these people, whoever the hell they were. Why couldn't they find a trace of her? These people must have deleted her somehow. Because she wasn't a lie. _They_ were a lie.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three- Family**

It was the most Train had ever said about Saya. He looked as angry as heck too, Sven thought. He wondered what kind of person would go round wearing a kimono... Of course, she hadn't. Not really.

Sven's back hurt from having to spend the night on a hospital chair for the third time in a row. How long would this go on for? How much longer would Train have to stay here? Eve was still asleep, and lay her head on his lap. Sven on the other hand, had had hardly any sleep at all. For the few minutes that he had lost consciousness he woke with a jolt from a horrible dream where Train never forgave him, saying the same words over and over again:

"_I thought you were my friends."_

Those words had stung. Maybe Train intended them to, or maybe he was just angry, but they had hurt a lot. Friends. They had been his second friends. His first friend was Saya. Maybe that was why... it was starting to hurt him so much. That was why it was so difficult for him to deal with it. She had been the first person to give a damn about him, not as an assassin or someone to be feared, but as a friend. She had meant everything to him, and then she died. And now... he was being told that she had never even existed. Sven wondered what kind of hell that must be. Part of him wanted Train to accept that he had decided to leave Chronos on his own without any influence, then move on and forget about her. But the other part of Sven was scared. He was scared of what Train would do if he _did_ accept it. He was broken when she died. How much more would he break when he loses her again?

It was started to feel like a million years ago that they had been living a carefree life, going wherever they wanted and doing whatever they wanted. Sven wandered if it would ever happen again.

* * *

When Sven came in, Train was scarfing down food despite the difficulty due to the restraints.

"Hospital food is disgusting." He commented with his mouth full. Sven snorted.

"Yet you continue to shovel mountains of it into your mouth?"

"What? I'm hungry!"

"Pig." Sven smiled slightly. It felt for a brief second that everything was back to normal, and he felt a slight painful twinge.

"Where's the Princess?" Train asked.

"She's still asleep."

"Oh, OK." Train had gotten over the events of their last conversation a little too quickly, it seemed. "Hey, Sven, could you see if there's any decent milk around here? I would do it myself but..." Train jangled his hand cuffs, saying wordlessly: _I can't even move._

_But... Milk? At a time like this he wants __**milk**__?_

"Hey, don't just stare at me like that, what's wrong with wanting some refreshments?"

Sven paused. "Train, what are you up to?"

"Nothing." Train said, innocently.

"Train, you're acting way too normal-"

"So what? Even crazy people have their good days."

"I... That's not what I meant."

Train's normality was making Sven feel even more awkward than if he was still angry with him.

"Anyway, so why the visit? Haven't you got some plans for today?" Train continued.

"Not particularly."

"Aww, that sucks. I've got a fulfilling day ahead of me. I thought it would be fun to chain myself to this bed. You should try it sometime, it's really worthwhile."

"..."

"What's with the silent treatment?"

"You aren't gonna listen to anyone, are you?"

"You're so judgemental, Sven."

"No I'm not, I'm right."

"I guess that's probably true too."

Train looked pretty determined. What was he going to do?

"I'll... I'll go get you some milk." Sven said after a pause, making for the door. He would usually just ignore Train if he started asking for him to get things for him, but he felt he should be as kind to him as possible.

"Awesome!" Train grinned, but his tone changed when he said "It... feels good to talk to someone who doesn't treat me like a complete psycho. I... thanks." Train smiled painfully at him, and Sven gave him an almost half smile back and left the room.

* * *

Train hadn't slept. Probably because he was angry, but also because he was worried. If he couldn't convince Sven and Eve, then he had to find a way to escape on his own. Of course, that could just lead to being brought back here, and probably put under more restraints. _Sven and Eve_. They were his two best friends. No, more than that. His older brother and little sister... They argued, they teased and annoyed each other... They had accepted Train despite they knew all too well what he used to be. Heck, they even saved his life. They were family, and yet they didn't believe him. Train thought back to their last conversation. Princess had been crying.

The last day had consisted of doctors and nurses flinching away from him and giving him frightened looks. It was starting to get on his nerves, and although he didn't want to admit it, he felt a hollow feeling every time someone was afraid of him. It was like being the Black Cat again, feared for his infamous abilities and cold blooded killing. Only somehow it felt worse...

Well, at least they had given him food. It wasn't particularly good though, Train thought, but he ate it anyway. He needed to eat as fast as he could. Train turned when the door gave a click and opened, and, expecting more of the scared doctors (or worse, Doctor Subditus), he was relieved to see Sven. His partner looked how he felt: there were bags under his eyes, and it was obvious he hadn't slept. He also had a worried and guilty look on his face, probably thinking that Train was still angry with him.

"Hospital food it disgusting." He said, trying to act like everything was normal.

"Yet you continue to shovel mountains of it into your mouth?"

"What? I'm hungry!"

"Pig." Sven looked slightly amused. The life they had previously led seemed to flicker back into that moment. It's strange how when things are boring, you want nothing more than for life to get interesting, and as soon as it does, you would give anything to go back to the way it was before.

"Where's the Princess?" Train wondered, tearing himself away from his thoughts.

"She's still asleep."

"Oh, ok." Well, at least she was sleeping anyway. He didn't know what would happen if both Sven and Eve couldn't hold it together. Was Sven worried about him? Because he definitely did look it. Train hoped not. He didn't have anything wrong with him, and the idea of them worrying about him made him feel slightly ill.

"Hey, Sven, could you see if there's any decent milk around here? I would do it myself but..." He jangled his handcuffs. It was probably a good idea to get Sven out the room. When Sven merely looked at him surprised, he said

"Hey, don't just stare at me like that, what's wrong with wanting some refreshments?"

"Train, what are you up to?" Sven said after a pause, looking suspicious.

"Nothing." Train said as innocently as he could.

"Train, you're acting way too normal-"

"So what? Even crazy people have their good days." He joked. Well, he hadn't lost it, so maybe he could just act as normal as possible and then he could convince them he wasn't mentally ill...

"I... That's not what I meant." Sven looked awkward.

"Anyway, so why the visit? Haven't you got some plans for today?" Train continued, trying to break the tension

"Not particularly." Sven replied.

"Aww, that sucks. I've got a fulfilling day ahead of me. I thought it would be fun to chain myself to this bed. You should try it sometime, it's really worthwhile."

Pause.

"What's with the silent treatment?"

"You aren't gonna listen to anyone, are you?" Sven was still going to try and persuade him. He looked worried.

"You're so judgemental, Sven." Train replied, trying to act as if the words hadn't affected him.

"No I'm not, I'm right."

"I guess that's probably true too." Well, how could they possibly expect him to listen to anyone when what they were telling him was the most ridiculous bullshit he had ever heard?

"I'll... I'll go get you some milk."

"Awesome!"

Sven made to leave the room. Although he had been awkward, Train realised that Sven had been the only person in the last few hours to not treat him like an atom bomb ready to explode. "It... feels good to talk to someone who doesn't treat me like a complete psycho." He said, "I... thanks." Sven almost smiled back as he stepped out of the door.

Train sat alone in the white room again. Okay, he had to act fast.

* * *

Eve woke up, realising she was sleeping on a chair. Maybe they had missed their bounty again and had to do without beds for the night... She opened her eyes. Wait... she's in a hospital hallway...? Disappointment punched her in the stomach as she remembered why she was here.

"Oh Eve, you're awake." Eve turned around to see Sven holding a bottle of milk. "Oh, yeah, he wanted some." He said, holding up the bottle.

"Is he still mad?" She asked.

"I don't think so, but he's not taking any of what anyone's trying to tell him. Then again, we didn't expect him to." Eve nodded.

"Anyway, I'll go give him the milk..."

"I'm coming too." Eve got up and followed him.

_OK, come on, just a little further..._

Trains room was just down the hall.

_One more try, come on..._

Sven was about to open the door.

_YES!_

A massive crash came from the room, and Sven and Eve burst in to find Train had capsized the bed and was trying to make his way to the window still strapped to it.

"_Train, what in God's name are you doing?"_

Train looked up in alarm. Damn, Sven and Eve were already here. He should have been faster... He tried to ignore the fact his stomach and chest felt like they had been punched with iron fists from the impact of the floor. Luckily, the impact had also broken his handcuffs. He kicked hard and slid out of the strapped that kept him glued to the bed. Yes! He'd broken free! Sven and Eve were still shouting at him, and it sounded like more people were coming this way. He started to run towards the window, when someone, no- several people grabbed him from behind.

"Damn it, let _go_!" He shouted at them, still trying to struggle. He knew he couldn't try to hurt them though; they would just use it as an excuse to say that he_ "is a danger to others._" Sven and Eve watched as Train struggled against the doctors, begging him to stop.

**Authors note- I had a bit of writers block on this chapter, so it's a bit shorter than the others... I'll try and upload the next chapter soon. I have more ideas for that one so I should do it a bit better... Anyway, please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four- End**

They sat in Doctor Subditus' office. Rinslet had finally arrived at the hospital and had joined them. No one spoke as they waited for Subditus to come in. Train had eventually been pinned down, and the bed had been nailed to the floor to prevent him from flipping it again. The doctor had asked them to see them in his office for "discussion of subsequent actions".

Rinslet looked over at Sven and Eve. They both looked tired. Really tired. Their eyes were a rage with emotion and pain, and they sat in their seats hopelessly, their heads bent. Sven seemed to be trying to hold himself together for Eve, but it was obvious he wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. Rinslet looked away as Doctor Subditus entered.

"I called you here today to discuss what to do about Train's little attempt break out." He said, "It appears restraints on their own won't do. The symptom of paranoia seems particularly active at this current stage."

Sven didn't like talking about Train like this. Like he wasn't a friend, but instead some animal that had to be controlled. "Look, if we can just get him to believe us-"

"Please, let me finish." The doctor said sharply. Sven fell silent.

"Now," He continued, "We have tried to administer prescription medicine to the patient, but as you may have noticed, he did not take that too lightly." Sven remembered the doctor named Sarah had left Train's room with a nosebleed after the attempt.

"Fortunately, it can be pumped directly into his blood stream. Unfortunately, he will have to be put under more restraints to prevent him from retaliating. Visiting hours must be determined as of yet-"

"Wait, what? Visiting hours? This isn't a prison, please-" Sven interrupted.

"We must make sure that he is not a danger to those around him." Subditus replied, swiftly and abruptly.

* * *

"_The fireworks... are so beautiful."_

Train opened his eyes. He felt a pinching feeling in his arm and looked down to see a tube pumping a liquid into him. He tried to grab it and stop it filling his blood with the mystery substance, but he was effectively paralysed by the added restraints. _Oh, wait... this is the so called "medicine" they tried to force feed me before, isn't it? That's just great_... _I probably shouldn't have punched that Sarah lady the in nose. Well, there's no getting out of here now... _He lay there for a few minutes, seething. Before long, the minutes turned to hours and the hours turned into a long, tedious wait until morning. The lights switched off at some point, although he didn't know when. The air was thick with foggy darkness, and Train stared at the ceiling he couldn't see, trying to imagine it was the night sky.

_ "You know, you don't talk much..."_

Train would have sat up with a jolt had he been able to. Why had her words sounded so real? It must have been because of that dream he just had... He pushed them away, trying not to think about her too hard. It never helped to think about her too much. But of course, the memories of that conversation came flooding back anyway.

"_Try saying something, like: it sure is beautiful night..."_

"_Huh, you're rude! Maybe you should keep your mouth shut!"_

"_This outfit's cute!"_

"_This is exactly the kind of situation where you tell the girl her clothes are cute whether you like them or not!"_

It occurred to him is was strange that although he knew exactly what he had said, he could only ever remembered the sound of _her_ voice. Then again, she was right... he never really spoke much when he met her. He wondered what she would think of him if she knew him now...

"_Loser owes winner ramune!"_

He snapped out of his doze as her words sounded sharply. It took him a few moments to realise he was breathing heavily, and steadied his breath slowly. He lay back and closed his eyes. _Yeah, she'd probably be_ _mad at me for not getting her that ramune she was so pleased about... _

The darkness enclosed around him, and he drifted away as the first rays of dawn peered through the curtains and painted a line of sunlight across the floor.

* * *

"Where's my gun?" Was the first sentence Train said when he woke up. He had to stop himself from wincing as the doctor looked at him in a way that said: _ "Oh dear God, help please, the psycho wants to start shooting us all!"_

"Please, she told me to never let go of it ag-" He bit down on his tongue to prevent himself from finishing; it was evident the doctor was mortified by what she believed Train had heard in one of his "delusions". He groaned inwardly as the doctor scurried out of the room, looking terrified. Honestly, surely they were used to people who _really_ had problems? He noticed the doctor pushed Eve out the way as they hurriedly left the room.

"Hey, Princess." Train said dully. Eve stood in the doorway, her head whirring.

"**Please, she told me to never let go of it again."**

_That was what he was about to say. And that was why he wanted his gun back so much the last time he couldn't find it. She told him to keep hold of it, and... I hid it from him._

Eve reminded herself that person had never been real in the first place.

"Hello." Eve said, her replying a little late. "I brought you some milk." She held up the carton.

"_There's nothing like milk after a song!"_

Train almost started as one of Saya's many "_There's nothing like milk!_" sayings sounded through the room, almost tangible. It must be because he just woke up...

"Thanks, but I don't know how I'm gonna drink it with the restraints and everything..." He replied as sincerely as he could, trying to cover up any reaction he might have shown. Eve put the drink down and closed the door behind her. There were a few seconds before she said "I can talk to you for half an hour."

"Shit-ditus thinks you should have visiting restrictions then?" Train grimaced,

"Shit-ditus?" Eve asked, bewildered.

"I mean Doctor Subditus." He explained the meaning of the nickname he had developed.

"Oh." She nodded in answer to the question.

"I see." Train replied. Eve felt her stomach twist at Train's pained expression. His eyes reflected anger, betrayal and loneliness all at the same time.

And then... they talked. Not really about anything in particular. The weather. The book she was reading. And then finally:

"Train, you have to start listening to the doctors."

Eve had been holding the sentence on its leash, teetering on the edges of the words the entire time, and finally slipped it into the gap of the conversation. It balanced awkwardly between them, hanging in the humming air. Trying to ignore it was like trying to ignore a corpse if it was what was hanging in the air instead.

"_**Silence them. Silence both of them."**_

A voice that was neither his own or Saya's pierced through Train like ice. He jolted, and Eve looked at him, alarmed.

"_**They are wrong. Silence them!"**_

The demand rang through his mind harshly, the world completely oblivious.

"Train? Are you okay?" Eve looked anxious.

"I'm fine." He lied quickly. Eve stared at him for a few moments, not sure whether or not to believe him.

"Visiting hours over. Would you care to step outside, Miss Eve?" A doctor peered his head around the door. She reluctantly left the room, but gave one last glance at Train. Her eyes widened when she saw him clenching his fists, paler than the white clouds shielding the sky outside the barred window.

* * *

"He was acting weird."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. He was just weird."

"Hmmm..." Sven lit another cigarette. They were on the roof of the hospital so Sven could smoke, and the breeze blew slightly chilly. The autumn leaves fluttering from the trees bellow were a dull, dead colour.

"Sven, if you keep smoking twice as much as you do usually you're not only going to die early, you'll die broke too." Rinslet commented.

"Leave me alone." He replied. smoking it anyway.

"He kept on jumping." Eve stated after a few seconds.

"Jumping?" Rinslet and Sven said at the same time.

"Not out of the bed. He kept on flinching and looking surprised then awkward... and when I left the room... he looked... scared."

"Scared? Of what?" Sven asked.

"I don't know."Eve gazed out at the dull sky as a gust of wind blew her blonde hair like a flag and scattered leaves into the air like burning embers.

* * *

"_**End it end it end it!"**_

What... _What_ was this? Who was... Eve couldn't hear it, so it was in his head. Somehow it was in his _head_. How did it get there? How and why and... what did he do about it? He had never heard anything like it before... No, it had to be because everyone had been treating him like someone who heard voices and it had rubbed of on him... It would go away as long as he didn't listen to-

"_**Find your gun and end them."**_

Train was shaking. He bit down on his lip to stop himself yelling, and found the taste of blood. The voice relished.

"_**The taste is sweeter when it is someone else's."**_

"No, shut up!"He whispered.

"_**End. End. End."**_

"Shut-"

"_**Silence. Silence. Silence."**_

"Stop, please-"

"_Hey, Train-kun!"_

"S-Saya?" The new and familiar voice surprised him. She sounded carefree as usual.

"_**Sweet, so sweet."**_

"_It's true, Train-kun!"_

"_**Sweet..."**_

"_Like milk!"_

"No..."

"_And ramune!"_

"_**End them! END THEM!"**_

Everything he heard was chaos. The words pelted at him, a swarm of whispers and frantic wasps, each with the same voice and something to say. The voice that was Saya agreed. She always agreed. He couldn't hear what they were saying anymore. He couldn't even see anything anymore. The taste of his own blood filled his mouth, and he tried to break free from the snakes coiling themselves around him, strapping him to the stone slab bellow. A thousand whispers, Saya's laughter and a madman's screams seemed to fill and echo louder than anything.

"_I SAID SHUT UP!"_ A voice that sounded like his own screamed, and the room came back into view, the voices gone as soon as they had come, hiding as if they were never there. The snakes turned back into restraints and the stone slab became the bed. He felt someone watching him. He turned to see some doctors staring at him like he was mad.

* * *

"Sven, get out." Sven looked at him, bewildered.

"Sven, _please_ just get out of here right now!" Train was almost begging. Scrap that, he _was_ begging. The tone of his voice made Sven do as he said, and he left the room quickly. He lent against the door behind him. What was all that about? The doctors said Train had had a weird moment around noon yesterday, but... why...? He readjusted his hat and walked away from the door, trying not to feel too hurt.

Train sighed heard his partners footsteps die away. The voices had whispered again. They had whispered things he would never dare think of, captured thoughts and forced them into his brain as they dripped from their lips like poison. He had to get Sven out before... before what? Before he started listening to them? They had echoed relentlessly through nightmares when darkness fell, and still echoed now. They would crescendo then die away, then crescendo again, taunting him with tantalising peace.

The door opened and his eyes snapped open. Doctor Subditus was now sitting in the chair. Train eyed him warily.

"Train, I think you may need to talk about something."

Train didn't reply.

"Train, if you're worried, you know that if you don't say anything you could end up hurting your friends."

Those words hit him hard. He would hurt his friends. He heard Saya laughing and he clenched his fists to distract himself. But... she wasn't... he...

Train looked at Doctor Subditus. "I think..." His voice was barely a whisper. "I think I'm hearing voices." Doctor Subditus nodded.

"I'm glad you are finally listening." He said grimly as he left the room. It was when he was alone that a horrible realisation hit Train. _She really wasn't real._

**Authors note- Heya! I'm sorry for drowning you with depressingness... Anyway, it's probably going to take me a bit longer to update next time because I'm really busy this week, and I've got my art project to get on with to, but anyway I hope you like my fanfiction so far. Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Sven sat in the hospital cafe, sipping his coffee, a frown written across his face. Rinslet sat across from him on the other side of the table, Eve leaning her head on Rinslet's shoulder.

"Why did he do that?" Rinslet said, indicating Train's strange behaviour Sven had told them about.  
"I don't know. But he looked bloody terrified." Sven replied.

"Like when I was visiting before..." Said Eve.

"But why?" Said Rinslet, "I mean, it's not like Train to scared like that."

They all fell silent, absorbed in their own thoughts. Sven suddenly stood up, knocking the table and spilling Rinslet's drink.

"Sven- wait where are you going?" she asked, an alarmed tone to her voice as she stood up to follow him out the door.

"I'm gonna find out what's with Train." Sven replied, but he stopped walking when he heard someone shouting his name.

"Mr Vollfied!" Sven looked round to see Doctor Subditus.

"I have good news!" He said, looking as if he was expecting them to jump for joy when he told them what is was. "He is listening! And he believes us!"

Sven, Eve and Rinslet simply stared at him. Suddenly, they all ran at once to Trains room. When they burst through the door Train didn't look up. He kept his head bowed and in his hands, and blood was trickling down his fingers as he dug his nails into his scalp.

"Train!" exclaimed Sven. Train didn't answer. "Train, stop doing that!" When Train didn't respond Sven rushed forward and pulled Trains hands away from his skin. Train continued to stare at nothing, not retaliating or acknowledging what Sven had done in the slightest.

"_Excuse me, you cannot enter the patients room outside visiting hours-_"

Sven retaliated with some words he would not usually like Eve to hear. He turned back to Train.

"Train, don't just stare at the wall like that! Train! Train- quit ignoring me!"

Eve watched in shock as she saw Train wear an expression she had seen on the face of a child who they had saved once. The child had lost his mother, father and younger brother. His eyes were filled of nothing but grief. When Eve went to check on the child, she had found he had died. The doctor had said his injuries weren't life threatening, but the child had given up living, and that was how his life came to an end. The look on Train's face right now was a mirror image of that little boy.

They had wanted Train to listen to the doctors. Now they had what they wanted. And it scared them.

* * *

"I'm not hungry."

_I'm not hungry. _The last and only time Sven had heard Train say that sentence was when he refused food after what he thought was her death. When Train refuses food, that is when you know something is really wrong. Like they didn't know that anyway...

"Train, you need to eat." He insisted.

"I'm not hungry." Train repeated. Those were almost the only two sentences he had said all week. The doctors had removed some of his restraints so he could at least move. Not that he wanted to anyway. He had stayed immobile ever since he accepted it, staring at the ceiling, never responding. The only other time when he would speak was when the voices got to loud. Whenever that happened when they were in the room, he would tell them to leave desperately. Sven looked at his once happy-go-lucky friend.

"Train, just have some milk or something, please!"

Once again he was met with no reply.

"Train please; Doctor Subditus said you need to build your strength up for the operations. They're gonna be starting pretty soon."

"..."

"Come on, not even milk?"

"..."

Sven sighed. Most of the recent conversations had gone something like this. If anyone asked him if he was worried about the operations he would have lied. If someone could read his mind, then they would know that the very idea of them made him feel a little sick.

"_In this kind of situation we shall have to proceed to use electric convulsive therapy." Said Doctor Subditus._

"_Wait, what does that mean?" Sven asked, bewildered._

"_It is a treatment used on those suffering from mental illness using high voltages of electricity. Due to the reaction of the treatment with painkillers, Train will not be able to use any pain relieving drug. However, if we continue with the procedure it should be less than half a year until he is effectively cured. We will need you to sign this paper for permission-"_

"_Wait, what? You said no painkillers?" He retorted, startled at the information._

"_Unless you wish for Train to stay this way?" The doctor raised his eyebrows._

"_I... Okay." Sven sighed, taking the papers._

The next few days continued the same. Train refused to eat, so food was fed to him through tubes. Train refused to talk, so they attempted a conversation to make him speak. Train refused to move, so he stayed where he was. Visiting hours were now two hours at 10:30 and 3:00.

Sven wondered what he would do if he found out that Lloyd was never real. And the truth was, he really didn't know.

* * *

The room was empty again. Train stared at the blank ceiling, trying to feel nothing. But it was too hard to feel nothing when everything he had believed had been proven a lie. She had never existed. He spent every day missing her, and she had never existed. She had never smiled, she had never laughed and she had never ran with him across the city where she had never lived. She hadn't believed the world was a wonderful place because she was never there. Maybe it was selfish that he was so hurt she wasn't real. It meant she hadn't suffered. But... no one had ever sang a song on that roof-top and stolen his milk. His first friend, the first person to care, the person that made him stop living that wretched life and made him feel _alive_ again, wasn't... she wasn't...

She had loved this world so much. She would have rather lived here for a moment as fleeting as a winter firework in the night sky and leave in the most tragic way, than never be here at all. She had shown him how beautiful it was, because he could see it when he looked through her eyes. Was it still beautiful? No. They were just lies. Just lies he had told himself that no one had ever really believed.

* * *

It was the first time he had left the room for... a while. He felt pretty disorientated, as he hadn't stood up for almost all that time either. It was the operation today. Sven, Eve and Rinslet had wished him luck. There were nervous doctors escorting him to the operation room, his hands handcuffed behind his back, and he was wearing new clothes/ pyjamas all the patients in the hospital had to wear. It was a long walk to the convulsive therapy operation room, through the winding grey corridors of his new home. He stared at the ground as he walked, his eyes glazed over and dull with grief. All too soon they had made it to a small square room with a chair and a sinister looking contraption. The clock read 1:00 pm. Train noted that the door that was now slamming shut behind him was soundproof. Why was it soundproof? He suddenly found himself panicking.

"Would you care to sit there please, Mr Heartnet." Said the doctor called Sarah. Train found himself moving towards the chair. Should he have eaten more? What was going to happen?

Someone was strapping him into the chair.

They said it would be painful. But he had been through worse, hadn't he?

They were clipping wires to metal hoops on his arms, legs and head.

But the door was soundproof.

A green light on the machine next to him lit up, showing it was ready to begin.

Why was it-?

Someone moved forward to press the button that would activate the machine.

"No- wait- stop, please-" Train began, fear bubbling up inside him and manifesting his insides. And then there was pain.

* * *

Screaming. They could hear screaming.

"What in the hell?!" gasped Rinslet, turning to the sound echoing through the corridor. Sven felt as if his stomach had suddenly dropped several inches through his body.

"But-" He whispered, "That- that sounds like-"

"Train." Eve finished, her eyes wide.

* * *

He couldn't think about anything else but the pain surging and burning through him. The door was soundproof to stop anyone hearing him screaming, which he noticed from the pain in his throat and ringing in his ears. But that was nothing, _nothing_ to what he was experiencing in his body. It was worse than any torture Zagine had put him through. Worse than that time he lost his arm. Worse than the pain he felt when he was transforming into a small child. It felt like someone had set him on fire, was stabbing him repeatedly and skinning him at the same time. So he screamed as the pain wrenched through him until he didn't know where he was. All he could see was a blinding light, all he could hear was someone crying out in pain and all he could do was pray and wait for it to end.

* * *

"_DOCTOR SUBDITUS, WHAT THE HELL-"_

"I told you it would be painful." The man said grimly to Sven as the green haired man shouted when he spotted him down the corridor

"Please- please stop this!" Eve was begging. "It's hurting him!"

"I'm sorry, but we are legally obliged to give him this treatment."

"_Then give him the painkillers, for God's sake_!" Rinslet yelled.

"The combination of the treatment and painkillers had resulted in severe injuries and death in some patients. Please, will you all calm down!"

* * *

Train let out a gasp. It was over. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead and he grit his teeth. It hurt to breath as he gulped in fistfuls of air. He was shaking, and soon discovered that moving worsened the pain he was left with. The doctors removed the wires and the metal hoops and the restraints he noticed were slightly broken from how he had writhed around. He was being helped into a wheel chair. As they were pushing him out of the room he noticed the clock. It now read 2:30 pm.

* * *

Eve lifted her hands away from her ears when she realised the screaming had finally stopped. Rinslet had been sitting with her head buried in her hands and looked up, and Sven sat up with a jolt. It had been longer than an hour. Everyone in the hospital had been acting as if the noise wasn't even there, just carrying on and pretending the halls were silent.

"He has to go through that... three times a weak? For six months?" Rinslet gasped in disbelief. She knew that Sven and Eve were closer to Train than she was, and it was affecting her badly.

It was another hour until they were allowed to see him.

"Train! Train, are you okay?!" Sven asked, his voice full of panic and concern. Train looked up at them with eyes full of pain.

_How... How will we get through this?_

**Sorry I didn't update for about five centuries... and that this Chapter's a little shorter than the others... I'm going to try and update more from now on, although school starts again soon so it won't be right away. I hope I'm not going to make the fandom depressed by torturing Train-kun too much... I want to know whether to keep writing this or not, so feedback and reviews would be awesome! Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Sven quietly closed the door behind him.

"How is he?" asked Eve and Rinslet at the same time, standing up at once. They had to wait outside as Train was only allowed one visitor at a time.

"He's asleep." Sven replied, "I think he needs it."

"Has he stopped hurting yet?" questioned Rinslet.

"He's exhausted, mainly, I think. He's improved a bit, though."

Eve looked up at Sven expectantly "But... are the... are the voices... is he any better?" she asked hopefully. Sven didn't say anything for a while, and then sighed. "It's hard to say anything yet... He seemed to tired or in too much pain to do anything much."

Eve looked down at the ground, closing her eyes.

"Doctor Subditus said that he would get better after the operations, though right?" She said.

"Right."

"Right. He'll get better. He will." Her voice was shaking slightly. No one said anything while the sounds of the silent hospital filled the room. It was almost blissfully silent without the sound of...

"But he won't will he?" Eve's voice came out in a cracked whisper. Sven looked up at her, surprised.

"Even if the schizophrenia goes away he still won't want to live anymore!" she spluttered through her tears, fists clenched. She ran into her father's arms, clinging to him and sobbing into is jacket. Sven hated himself for not being able to say a single thing to contradict what they all knew. They had all been thinking it. It had been more than obvious.

* * *

Sarah walked down the hall, trying not to think too hard. She felt numb as she walked, and stared straight ahead, not letting herself get distracted by her thoughts that were demanding attention. She had successfully managed to not think about... _it_ properly when she reached her next patients room. She opened the door and closed it behind her, and paused for a moment, letting out a sigh. She closed her tired eyes and ran a hand through her short curly blonde hair, and got to work on washing the coma patient, who remained as passive as ever. The coma patient had been that way long before Sarah had begun to work as an intern there. She had tried her best to look after her and make up for the lack of company, talking to her, reading to her. Even more now, to try and distract herself from... _it_. But...

"I'm not cut out for this job..." she thought. What use was it trying to distract herself? She couldn't keep fooling herself that she wasn't thinking about the boy with schizophrenia. There was so much pain here.

She had wanted to be a doctor ever since she was a little girl. In the town where she grew up, there was an explosion. No one knew the exact details of how it had happened, but many people thought it wasn't an accident. There was some hear-say that it had something to do with the weapons dealer that had a factory there. The peaceful town was taken away by that weapons dealer, who went on to live in villas and make more money. There were fires and destroyed houses. But Sarah had watched people save the lives of those who were injured during the explosion. They were heroes and heroines, she had thought. She believed that more than ever now. They carried on. They did all they could to save someone, and when they couldn't, they carried on and got started with saving someone else. But... her? No. She wasn't strong enough. She wanted to run away and never see this place again. She thought back to the boy with schizophrenia. During the operation... it was like someone was torturing him. They had to hold him down when he started to break some of the restraints when he was writhing around in agony. Sarah shuddered. "That... that poor boy..." she said out loud, but quickly remembered that the coma patient could hear her.

"Come on pull yourself together!" She thought, scolding herself. She wasn't supposed to show too much emotion on the job: it worried and stressed out the patients too much.

"OK, all done!" She abruptly said to the coma patient when she finished washing her, a forced smile no one could see plastered on her face as she tried to keep the pain out of her voice. "_People die here every day"_. She thought, _"__That boy's life has been torn apart_." She bit her lip.

"_I'm really not cut out for this job..." _She thought again, and lent against the patients bed, curled up in a ball on the floor, willing herself not to cry. "_This isn't what I wanted!_" she gasped out loud, "_I wanted to save people. Not discover just how much pain the world could hold! What right do I have to be affected by this anyway? It's them who are suffering- not me! I'm just... I'm just so usele-"_

* * *

Rinslet looked over her shoulder. Beyond the sounds of doctors and nurses chattering and people working there was... someone crying? Putting down the coffee she had bought, she walked towards the sound. Yes, a girl was crying. She walked down the corridor and saw a hall with a plaque with the words _Coma patient ward_. She walked down it, putting her ear to each door until she reached the one labelled "Coma Patient 17". She listened.

_What right do I have to be affected by this anyway? It's them who are suffering- not me! I'm just... I'm just so usele-"_

"Um, hey, are you ok?" Sarah looked up, startled. She felt a pang of guilt when she recognised the purple haired woman who knew the boy with schizophrenia.

"I'm- I'm fine!" She said, turning her tear stained face away from her and busying herself with making the patients bed. Rinslet watched the girl as she pretended nothing was wrong. She walked over. The girl turned as Rinslet stood next to her, her green eyes reflecting the strain she was going through. She looked like she was about maybe a year or so younger than her, perhaps even straight out of uni. But her job had aged her, and the creases in her face and shadows under her eyes showed it.

"What's wrong?" Rinslet asked, concerned. Sarah felt even guiltier. Here was this girl, who was going through so much more than her, asking her why she was upset.

"Nothing- I'm being stupid. I'm sorry." She said, shaking her head and faking a smile. Rinslet stayed silent for a moment, then nodded. "Ok" she said, as she made her way to the door. This girl obviously didn't want to talk about whatever it was with a complete stranger.

"I..." Sarah began. Rinslet looked over her shoulder. "I... I'm sorry about your friend." The young doctor finished. Rinslet gave an inkling of a weak smile to express her thanks, and left the room.

* * *

_**Four months later.**_

Train caught his reflection in the barred window of his room. He looked thin. Too thin. His face was gaunt and he looked older- and ill. It surprised him how devoid of emotion his eyes looked too. They looked dull and uninterested in anything. He hadn't seen what he looked like for a long time, and the sight shocked him. He held his hands in front of him, and realised how thin they looked too. Behind them he could see the tray of food on his lap, which he pushed way. He wasn't hungry.

The past few months had gone by in a grey routine. Three times a week, every week, he would have the operations. Twice a day he would get to see Sven, the Princess or Rinslet if she wasn't with Jenos. He had almost got used to the operations by now, despite the fact he had refused food. After each one, he was left feeling exhausted and in pain, and hardly able to speak after screaming. But it just felt like part of his life now. It gave him an excuse to not talk to people. He just wanted to be left alone on that metal bed. He didn't want to have to think or say anything. He spent most of his time staring up at the white ceiling, not moving. He didn't answer the questions any of the doctors asked him, like "_How are you feeling_?" or "_Don't you want to eat this?_" They said that he was suffering from depression now- or maybe the negative symptoms of his... _condition_, meaning he withdrew from people. Some people seemed to think that he had both. They weren't so frightened of him anymore, but they still treated him with caution. The expression they held for him now was one of pity for the most part, unless they were exasperated with his lack of communication.

The handcuffs he wore were pointless. He had no will to try and escape. He thought back to the time that he did. How could he have been so stupid? He could have ended up hurting someone out there. But... he missed having the will to fight for something. That was a part of him he was gradually forgetting.

He supposed that he should be bored, or distraught, or both. He almost expected to be angry with... _her_. For not ever being there. But all he could feel was a void of emptiness, and realisation of just how pointless his life was now its meaning was fake. He wished they would stop feeding him with the tubes.

" _**End them. End them. End them."**_

Something whispered in the back of his mind. He closed his eyes and hunched over, putting his hands to his ears in a futile attempt to block out the sound. He could deal with it now, but would still tell people to get out the room if the noise came anywhere. How was it the voice was so... real? After months of hearing it, he realised something about it. It was the voice of Zagine. The very thought made him shudder. When the sound had faded a little, he opened his eyes and looked at his hands. His fingers had drawn blood. A vision of the whole room drenched in blood and his own hands, gory and mutilated, flashed into his vision.

"_**Murderer!"**_

Zagine screamed out at him, and Train saw everyone he knew and cared about lying on the floor, unmoving, glassy eyes open and hollow as their heads bled from gunshot wounds.

"_NO!_" He screamed, and his eyes snapped open when he realised someone was shaking him. He looked up to see Eve, who had grabbed hold of his arm. He noticed that his fist was clenched. He had tried to hurt her. His eyes widened.

"I-I'm sorry!" He stuttered, tearing his arm away from her. Eve shook her head and sat down on the chair. "It's OK." She said. Train stared at the hand he had tried to hurt her with, and felt sickened with himself.

"Train, are you going to eat that?"

Train didn't respond. Eve noticed that his head was bleeding and his hands were covered in blood, and cleaned them, placing a bandage where he was bleeding. Train did nothing to resist. That was what he did these days. He didn't protest when people tried to take care of him, but didn't seem to notice either. After she had finished, Eve sat back down. Train didn't look at her, instead staring at nothing. But even out the corner of his eye he could see how tired she looked from the lines in her young face. I realised that when he was visiting, Sven didn't look so good either. He still tried to persuade him to eat, but it was obvious he had given up on any hope of him getting better. His mental state had improved slightly, according to Subditus, but everyone knew that Train didn't want to carry on trying to live.

Princess made an attempt of making small talk, but the lack of response meant it was in vain, until Train turned to her.

"Princess, go." Was all he said. It wasn't in the usual desperate tone that he used when there were voices. Eve realised it had been a very long time since anyone had called her by that name.

"What?" She said, wondering why Train was telling her to go if he wasn't hearing the voices.

"Go. You and Sven. Stop worrying about me and get on with your lives."

Eve had no idea what to say.

"You haven't left the hospital since I got here, have you?" he continued.

"I-"

"Rinslet is trying to get on with her own life, at least. Please- don't just waste your life away. I'm not going to get better even if my... condition does." Train closed his eyes and breathed in, "Make sure the old guy doesn't beat himself up too much."

Eve was stunned. She couldn't remember the last time Train had said so many words. She was stunned enough to agree with him, but found herself wondering if it had ever happened when she left the room and saw that Train returned to his unresponsive state, staring miserably into nothing.

* * *

**Please don't judge me, I'm nowhere near as depressed as I seem writing this fic... Anyway, please reveiw :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

"Eve, what's that book?"

"It's about depression." She answered Sven bluntly.

"Oh." Sven answered awkwardly. Eve had been leafing through these kind of books a lot lately. Books about mental state, books about schizophrenia. Sven watched as she flipped through each page quickly, scanning each one as fast as possible and her brow furrowing in annoyance when after each one she couldn't find what she was looking for. As she flicked through the book angrily Sven sighed and sat back on the bench, rubbing his hands together to keep warm from the cold. It was the beginning of March already, and it was still freezing. The public park with the fountain and the bench where he and Eve had met was dull and empty. There was no sign of the birds they had fed or the ice-cream stall.

They had been trying to get out more, seeing as it was what Train wanted. To be honest, it wasn't particularly fun, but seeing as Train was so miserable all the time, Sven didn't have the heart to tell him.

"Sven, are you going to eat that?" said Eve, indicating the packed lunch he had on his lap. Sven saw she had already eaten hers.

"To be honest with you, I'm not that hung-" Sven started, but bit back his tongue when he saw Eve's face. He quickly started eating heartily in an effort not to worry her. He couldn't keep on letting himself get like this. The last thing Eve needed was someone else losing it. She had looked scared out of her wits whenever she saw him acting the slightest bit like Train.

The truth was that the whole thing had hit Sven pretty badly. He had tried to keep himself together, for Eve's sake, but it was getting harder and harder as each day confirmed that his partner had little, or no hope of recovering. He had forced a fake smile when they went out. Rinslet had taken Eve shopping, Sven had taken a few jobs to pay for Train's medical bills. They had gone out for meals. "That_ had gone well._" Sven thought sarcastically.

_They sat down and waited for someone to come and take their order. None of them were trying to say anything, and they kept their heads bowed. The fourth seat stood empty in the corners of their eyes as they wasted their effort trying to ignore it._

"_Huh? You guys?" Sven practically jumped out of his skin when he saw the red-headed waitress who seemed to work at every place they went to ready to take their order._

"_Are you guys stalking me?" She grinned._

"_How many jobs do you have exactly?! __**And no, we're not**__!"Sven Said indignantly._

"_Hey, I just travel a lot. Anyway, am I going to have to give you bread crusts again, or do you finally have enough money? And what happened to the mooching cousin?" She said, noticing Train's empty seat. No one said anything._

"_Oh come on, don't tell me _Mr-I'm-awesome-and-you-don't-wanna-mess-with-me-'cos'-I-have-a-gun _got himself injured?" She joked, but was surprised when the girl with blonde hair stood up and ran out of the cafe, knocking over her seat and running into a waiter, whose tray fell to the floor with a crash along with the food. The sweeper and the other girl followed right away, leaving their chairs empty and the waitress feeling sickeningly guilty._

"So, Eve, how about we go visit Annette now?" Suggested Sven, a few minutes after he had finished eating, sporting a forced grin Eve immediately saw through. It was a minute after she had finished angrily flicking through her book that she nodded and she got up.

They walked and attempted conversation, like how nice it was that it had stopped raining, or about the different shops. Neither of them thought they would ever think it, but both of them missed the complaints of "I'm sooooo hungry!" to fill in the silence. Everything was dull without him, and it felt pointless leaving the hospital just to wish he was with them being hyper-active as usual.

"Hey Sven, Eve. What would you like today?" Annette greeted them kindly when they entered the warmth of the sweepers' cafe. Sven had already told her about what had happened.

"Hey, Annette. Just some largar, please."

"Sure, it's on the house."

"No, Annette, I'll pay for-"

"It's _on_ the _house_." She said firmly. Sven nodded and took a seat next to the counter. Eve sat next to him, taking off her black coat and blue scarf. She stared down, her elbow on the table and hand under her chin, picking at a small crevice in the wood now that she didn't have a book with her. She hated that. It felt like she was at least _doing_ something when she was reading. Like if she looked through enough books she would find a solution even the doctors didn't know about.

"Eve, how about you?"

"Milk, please." She answered. She had been copying his old mannerisms as a way of filling in the gap, even eating and drinking the stuff he liked. After a pause, Annette got them their drinks and started a conversation.

"So, how did the last job go?" Annette asked Sven.

"Not much luck. The criminal got away, and it turns out my other bounty had already been caught." He replied. He took a gulp of his largar: it took his mind off things a little. "We're probably going to end up in debt again soon from the hospital costs, so I've really got to get the next one." He sighed, and took another swig of the drink. Annette eyed the glass warily, and regretted giving him it. He had been drinking more and more alcohol lately.

"I see. Well, as soon as a good bounty comes up, I'll make sure you're the first to know."

"Thanks." Sven gave a weak grateful smile.

"By the way, Rinslet came down earlier. She said she had been a little busy today, but she'd meet you guys at the hospital in the evening."

"Really? Ok."

There was a silence while they all finished their drinks and Annette cleaned some dishes. Eve stared out the window, at the windy day outside, lost in her own thoughts until the barmaid asked "So Eve, how are you getting on at school?"

"Fine." She replied. Sven glanced at her. The truth was, she hadn't been going much. She went on her first day. She had enrolled there about a month ago, and found the lessons pretty easy, seeing she had read so many books by now. But she found herself walking in the opposite direction from the school most days now. She didn't feel like pretending to be happy or socialising, and it felt lonelier not talking to people when they were around than when she was alone. Besides, it gave her an opportunity to read more books. She was pretty sure that the librarian didn't know what to make of the school girl who spent most her days in the local library instead of in class, but she didn't say anything. After four days of her absence, the head master had called Sven and asked him to come to the school, and told him about Eve's repeated absences. Sven didn't get angry: he knew why she hadn't been going. But he had been disappointed in her. He had already given her a lecture about it that day, so didn't say anything when Annette brought it up.

"So, what are your favourite subjects?"

"Literature and biology." Eve answered dully, "And English too."

"Oh, you'd be good those because of all the books you've read, wouldn't you?" Annette smiled. Eve nodded unenthusiastically, and didn't say anything to attempt to continue the conversation. Of course she would be good at biology. She had read enough medical books.

Annette and Sven talked a little while longer until they ran out of things to say, and the three of them simply sat in silence, Eve gazing out the window and Sven drinking another pint of his beverage before moving on to a cigarette. It began to get dark outside.

"Well, we'd best be off." Said Sven, getting up. "Eve, put your coat on, it's cold out there."

Eve got up and put her coat and scarf back on obediently.

"Have a safe trip." Said Annette.

"Thanks." Sven replied. Eve nodded in acknowledgement.

"Thank you for the drinks, too." He called back to the barmaid.

"No problem." She answered. As they left the cafe, she called after them: "Hey. If you need anything... just let me know."

"Sure. Thanks." Sven replied gratefully, and the two of them walked out and the door closed behind them, but not before a gust of icy wind stole its way into the room. Annette sighed. They had both been so down lately, and it was only a little while before Train was sectioned that Eve had started to laugh and smile properly, like any other kid of her age. Having a family had been doing Sven good too. He hadn't been so close to anyone since Lloyd, and it was obvious that losing Train and his old personality had affected him badly, no matter how much he tried to hide it. When Annette herself had gone to the hospital, the glimpse she caught of Train was a broken vision of his former self. She could still clearly remember the expression on his face.

After putting the last dish away, she stood up and walked to the door, flipping the sign from reading "open" to "closed".

They drove along the dull road in silence. Eve was reading an old newspaper by the orange light of passing street lamps, and Sven kept his eyes on the road, starting to think having the alcohol before driving wasn't such a good idea. But they were over halfway now and needed to get to the hospital. When they arrived, he parked the car outside and he and Eve got out.

Rinslet was waiting for them in the foyer.

"I brought a takeaway!" She said in attempted enthusiasm, holding up the bags of food. They sat down outside Trains room and ate, waiting for the new time they could see Train.

"It's your turn to visit Train now, right Sven?" She said.

"Yeah." He replied, taking a bite of the chicken. "Did anything change when you were visiting him?" He asked.

"Not that I had noticed, no."

"I see."

The clock ticked a steady rhythm and the echoes and footsteps in the halls were the only company for the time that they ate, unable to think of anything to say.

Finally, the hands reached: 6:30, and Sven got up. "See you in a bit."

"See you" Said Rinslet. Eve nodded.

"I'll try and get him to eat something again." He said before he entered the room and closed the door behind him. Train didn't look up.

"Hey, Train. You OK today?"

"..."

"You gonna eat that food? They've given you milk."

Train remembered how milk was _her_ favourite drink too. He wondered what had actually happened to the endless bottles of milk of his that she had supposedly stolen. They were probably rotting away on the rooftop...

He could feel Sven staring at him as he gave no response other than looking slightly more depressed.

"Train, listen to me, you've got to have about fifty stomach ulcers' by now."

"..."

Sven turned away and sat rigidly, staring at the white wall angrily. They sat like that for several minutes until-

"_Train, for God's sake just say something!_" Sven stood up, knocking over his chair, and splinters of it slid and scattered themselves over the floor. "_You can't just sit there not doing anything! Train, look at me!_" His fists were clenched, and he took a breath. "_Do you know that maybe this isn't all about you?! Our lives have come to a standstill because we can't just carry on like normal when you're like this! I know it's not your fault for having something wrong with you but you can't just sit there and starve yourself to death while wallowing in self pity!" _Train was looking at him in surprise. "_Eve has been skipping school because of you, and she's been reading medical books to find a solution for your bloody problem instead! Do you think she can remember the last time she slept on a proper bed either?! We're practically in debt too now; I bet you didn't know that!" _Train's shocked expression and the fact Eve and Rinslet had entered the room telling him to stop didn't make him falter: "_I'm sick and tired of this, Train! You were my best friend, but now you just stay in this godforsaken room not thinking about anything other than yourself and how miserable you are! Just get a grip, why don't you?! She wasn't real, so get the hell over it! I don't see what difference that makes now, so if you're done just lying there wanting to die, let me kno-"_

"_I CAN'T GET OVER HER, SVEN!" _Train finally reacted, causing the vase with fake flowers to fall and smash when he hit the table with his fist. This time it was Sven's turn to be shocked. Train was furious and hurt, and he was breathing heavily. "_DO YOU THINK I DIDN'T TRY?! DO YOU THINK I ENJOY BEING LIKE THIS?!_" He yelled at him, "_WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF THE VERY REASON YOU STARTED LIVING WAS A LIE, SVEN, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?! BECAUSE SHE'S THE REASON I DIDN'T KILL EVE! SHE'S WHY I STOPPED BEING AN ASSASIN! SHE MADE ME FEEL LIKE I WAS ACTUALLY _WORTH _SOMETHING- and she was... SHE WAS EVERYTHING TO ME, AND NOW SHE HAD NEVER EXISTED! I WANTED TO BECOME A SWEEPER FOR HER, TO MAKE HER PROUD THAT I WASN'T KILLING PEOPLE ANYMORE- BUT WHAT'S THE POINT OF THAT _NOW_?!"_ Sven was scared. He had never seen anyone this angry in all his time of living.

"WHAT'S REAL ANYMORE? BECAUSE IT'S NOT THE LIES TOLD MYSELF! ALL A GUN IS USEFULL FOR IS KILLING, AND I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW DELUSIONED I WAS! _I'M NOT ACTUALLY WORTH ANYTHING! I'M JUST A KID WHO GOT MESSED UP WHEN HIS PARENTS DIED AND BECAME AN ASSASIN! I'M A COLD BLOODED KILLER- AND WHO KNOWS- MAYBE I KILLED _INNOCENT_ PEOPLE IN SOME SCHIZOPHRENIC RAMPAGE TOO! I DON'T DESERVE TO BE HAPPY, SO SHUT UP TELLING ME I'M BEING SELFISH!"_

A crowd of doctors had gathered too now. Sven was regretting what he had said more than anything in his life.

"Do... you know what I _see_?" Train said, his quiet voice even more terrifying. "Other than all of you _dying_ and hearing _voices_, I see _her_. And she laughs and talks just the way she used to, and I try to ignore her but she tells me that you're all wrong and I have to _kill_ you. _And it hurts so much._"

All of them were staring at him in shock.

"Train-" Sven began in a horrified whisper,

"_Go. _Everyone. Just._ Go." _He replied, his voice hoarse from screaming, and he had spoken more than they had heard him in the whole six months put together. Nothing happened for a few moments, and then the room cleared, everyone feeling awkward and guilty, like they had just seen something they really shouldn't have. Sven, Eve and Rinslet stood still for a little while longer, but then proceeded to follow everyone else.

Sven was sitting in the chair where he usually slept an hour later, his head in his hands. Eve and Rinslet gazed miserably at the floor.

"Sven," Eve finally said after none of them having spoken for the whole time. "Are you OK-"

"I shouldn't have done that." He said, his tone riddled with self loathing. "I just got so _angry_ with him being like that the whole time- I had no idea that... I... I-" He fell silent and closed his eyes. He felt sickened with himself. How could he have shouted at him like that? Because he was angry, and he missed him. Why- why couldn't-

"Mr Vollfield!" A woman's panicked voice yelled breathlessly as she was running towards them down the hall. "Miss Walker, Miss Eve!" Sarah stopped in front of them, out of breath from running.

"Mr" _breath_ "Mr Heartnet is gone!" She gasped out. They stared at her. Sven found himself sprinting to his friends' room and flinging open the door. The bed was empty. The handcuffs lay broken on the floor. The window hung open, bars broken and a cold wind seeping its way into the room.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

_Just run. _

_Keep running. _

_Why am I here? _

_My feet hurt. My head hurts. _

_How long has it been since I've been outside? _

_It's cold. _

_Where is this place anyway? _

_Why am I running? _

_But I need to get out of here._

_Wait, blood? My hands are bleeding. It must be because I smashed those bars. _

_You have to get away from here. Keeping running, or they'll find you._

* * *

"Quickly, call the police, Sarah, and I need at least ten people to form a search party _NOW_!" Doctor Subditus said, shouting over the panicked commotion. "Someone check the area around the hospital. Does anyone know how long ago it was he could have escaped?"

"An hour, at the most." Said Sarah,

"He can't have gone too far in his state." The old doctor stated, "We will begin by searching the grounds. Whatever happens, make sure he doesn't get to a busy area-"

"Doctor Subditus, listen to me!" Yelled Sven. The doctor looked at him, surprised.

"Train's fast. Really fast. He might not have been doing any exercise lately, but if he can't at least run like an Olympic athlete then I'll be dammed." He said, "Please, don't waste time looking nearby! Please, we've got to find him before anyone... before he gets hurt!"

Subditus nodded. "I need twenty of you _now_, you can worry about your posts later!" he yelled at the staff.

"But sir, I need to be there on my night shift!"

"My patient can't just be left alone!"

"You can't expect us to just-"

"_This is not the time to have a god-damn debate! Everyone quit complaining and start looking unless you want to lose your jobs altogether!"_ He responded harshly.

"Mr Vollfield, Miss Walker, are you coming?" He turned to the Sweeper and the thief. They nodded.

"I'm coming too." Eve said.

"No, Eve, you're staying right here." Sven replied firmly as he put on his coat.

"But he's my friend too!" She replied indignantly.

"Eve, you're twelve years old for God's sake!" She glared at her guardian mutinously.

"_Fine_." She said, turned away from him.

* * *

Sarah ran down the hall as fast as her legs would carry her. She had already called the police, and had to do one thing before she had to go. She flung open the door to the _coma patient_ _17_'s room. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to survive without me tonight." She closed the door gently and sprinted back to the where the search party was gathered.

"Finally, you're late, Sarah."

"I'm sorry, Sir." She apologized to Subditus. He turned away from her. "Everyone, let's go!"

* * *

He knew this place. It was deserted, and the empty street around him was dimly lit by the beginnings of dawn. How did he get here anyway? He could see his reflection out of the corner of his eye, but suddenly realised it was a giant screen:

**Warning- Dangerous and skilled with weaponry. Believed to be on the loose in south Japan. Please, stay in your homes at all times, and call emergency services if he is seen.**

It sounded like he was some kind of animal. He felt slightly sick. Well, anyway, at least he knew why all the streets were deserted. He walked along the pavement with his bleeding feet. His whole body ached and was screaming from exhaustion. He felt lightheaded too, and his tongue felt like sandpaper. Noticing a water fountain outside one of the buildings, he walked over and drank from it. He ignored the supermarkets containing rows of food as he continued to walk aimlessly through the city.

How did he get here anyway? He remembered running beside a busy road in the dark, and... He'd must have kept running, he guessed. But he definitely knew this place from somewhere... The memory flashed into his mind all at once.

_The busy street was full of bustling people and families, but he walked alone in his dark clothes, a contrast to the vibrant atmosphere._

"_We're more similar... than you'd like to think." The words echoed in his mind as he walked, and he found himself unable to comprehend them. A lot later than he should have done, he noticed another man dressed in the tell-tale dark clothing of Chronos, like himself. He did not let the expression of surprise reach his face. He couldn't start letting his guard down like this, even around another number. It went against all his training. He continued to walk, acting oblivious to his colleges presence._

"_Another assignment, thirteen." The man said in an undertone as he discreetly slipped the red envelope into the Black Cat's hand. Train took it, also not looking at him. The presence of the number left, and he stood in the centre of the street, staring at the envelope, the crowd of people oblivious to him as they talked and chattered._

"_We're more similar... than you'd like to think." He stuffed the envelope in his pocket roughly and continued to walk._

That's right. This was where he had lived when he was still an assassin. But that means... that also in this town- it was where-

He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a police siren in the distance. He started to run blindly away from it, and dived into an ally way just before it came down the street, pressing himself against the wall to conceal himself in the shadows. It screeched to halt, and he silenced his breath and faded into the darkness. He wasn't a former legendary assassin for nothing.

A police man got out the car and scanned the surroundings, his eyes sweeping over the place where Train stood, still as the concrete.

"Are you sure he was sighted around here- over." He said into a walkie-talkie. It crackled something back Train was too far away to here.

"We should search the next street- over." Said his college, and the first policeman said their next cause of action into the walkie-talkie. Train breathed a sigh of relief, but just as he was just getting into the car, the policeman noticed the glint of something in the darkness. Train was internally cursing when he realised that the policeman had seen the bell he still wore around his neck, reflecting the vague morning light. He tried to move silently backwards into the darkness until he could run down the alley way as the police drew their guns and began making their way towards him. Train's hand tried to find his holster to draw his own, and cursed when he realised he no longer had it with him. He suddenly felt very vulnerable. Walking backwards, he managed to put a distance between himself and the cops until something cold hit the back of his foot, and he stumbled backwards into the trash cans, letting out an involuntary cry of surprise. They made a deafening crash, and then the police were running towards him. Train pushed himself upwards and ran, before leaping upwards and reaching the roof top with a measured grace, the policemen gasping with astonishment below.

* * *

Eve was sitting in a chair at the hospital, fuming. Why wasn't she allowed to look for Train? Sven, Rinslet and the others had been gone for hours, and she felt superfluous just sitting there worrying, and her lack of sleep didn't do anything to improve her bad mood either. She looked out the window and at the sun that was slowly peering over the horizon. "_Maybe it will be easier for them to look in daylight..._" she hoped. She wondered if Sven and Rinslet had had any sleep either, and guessed that they had probably been searching all night. She wished she could have searched with them. Her inbuilt senses surely would have helped-

"Blood." She suddenly said out loud, recognising the metallic smell that seemed to be filling the room. A passing nurse gave her a worried glance and left the room quickly. "_So no one else has noticed it..." _She thought, "_So that means that it's coming from somewhere else_."

She got up and walked down the hall, towards the scent. She made it outside, and it was even stronger. It made her feel slightly sick, but she continued to walk decisively, not knowing where it would take her. Finally, she had found a trail.

* * *

Train ran as fast as he could, jumping across the rooftops, ignoring the blood he was leaving behind him from his bleeding feet. The taller buildings would loom in front of him unexpectedly, and the distance it was between him and the ground kept on distorting, moving backwards and forwards like a wave. But he kept on running, despite the throbbing in his head. There was another police siren below, and it echoed into a chaos of noise inside his head until he felt like he was surrounded by screaming sirens. He stopped running, and put his hands to his ears, crouching on the floor of the roof. He tried to level his panicked breathing, his eyes tightly shut. After the noise had died away, he looked upwards, and the cooling wind lightly blew his hair as the sun rose above the tall storey buildings. The wind and the light of the sun felt refreshing. He stayed there for a few moments, breathing in the spring morning air.

"_No- wait it's daylight! They'll only be able to find you easier!_" He suddenly realised, and got up, continuing to sprint almost soundlessly across the rooftops.

"Mr Vollfield, please, you must have some rest!" Doctor Subditus said, "The police are out looking for him now, and everyone has been warned to stay in their homes. Exhausting yourself pointlessly isn't going to help us find-"

"_I'm not going to just sit here!_" The sweeper replied. "Rins, you coming?" Rinslet nodded, and her and Sven continued without the rest of the search party. Sarah stared after them, and suddenly felt the strange sensation of being painfully guilty when it wasn't her fault. "_They're so determined to find him."_ She thought, as they walked away, ignoring the shouts from Doctor Subditus.

* * *

Eve walked beside the road, looking straight ahead, her face frowning in concentration. Yes, this was the right way. Her tights where muddy and she was cold, seeing as she hadn't bothered to put a coat on. The occasional car drove by, but no one bothered the strange girl with long hair. Eve did not have any idea why she was following the smell, but it felt like the only course of action she had left. If Sven wouldn't let her come with them to search for Train, then she would have to do it by herself.

* * *

Train stumbled and collapsed onto the hard concrete of the building. He felt dehydrated again, and the sun glared into his eyes, doing nothing but worsen his headache. He gasped in deep breaths and was shaking. God dammit, his whole body was hurting. He gritted his teeth to try and endure it, and leant against the bench for support. Suddenly, his hand brushed over something smooth and cold. He looked around to see what it was, and saw an empty milk bottle. Why was- suddenly he whipped around and took in his surroundings. He was on a roof top that overlooked the cityscape, and at night was the perfect place for viewing the dark sky adorned with stars. The rooftop itself was not particularly grand- it was like any other desolate and rundown spot in a city. Behind him, was a door leading down into one of the apartments, with a roof big enough for someone to stand on. There was another rooftop across from where he sat.

"That- that's where..." he gasped out, recognising the spot where he had first seen her. Before he knew it he was stumbling over to it, and then there were stairs beneath his feet.

"_Hey, Train-kun!_"

He was in the hallway now, and rested his hand on the wall for support.

"_Train-kun, it's freezing!_"

There was a door.

"_Come on, come inside, I'm not hanging out here when it's raining so much!_"

Suddenly it was open, and the latch hung broken, his bleeding hands the evidence that he was the perpetrator.

"_What's that funny face supposed to be?_"_ she giggled._

Train was on his knees in an empty room, which was coated and painted in a thick dust that sprung up in clouds at his arrival. A spider was crawling up the window pane, and cobwebs were decorating the walls and corners of the apartment.

"_Well, this is home!_"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

_The rain poured down over the dismal city and seeped its way through his dark clothing until he was drenched and freezing. The sound of traffic and the drumming of the raindrops were deafening and drilled over the echoing peace of the rooftops he was accustomed to. But he stayed in the icy rain, seemingly undeterred by the precipitation that was bombing down on him from the skies. No one could tell he was lost in the thoughts of what the rain reminded him of, and unable to tear himself away from the memory. He gazed at the cityscape that was being attacked by the bullet thick raindrops, his eyes glazed over as he was lost in his memories, until-_

"_Hey, Train-kun!" Her voice yelled out at him, jogging him out of his reverie. Surely, she wasn't...?_

"_Train-kun it's freezing!" _

_Train looked at the girl in the floral kimono, who was soaked from head to toe, her hair plastered to her face. "_Why is she out here, anyway_?" he thought, looking at her, surprised. It seemed that she always interrupted him when he was lost in his own thoughts._

"_What the hell are you doing out here, are you crazy?!" Saya shouted at him. He shrugged as the rain cascaded down his face, his normally spiky hair soaked and drooping slightly._

"_I could ask you the same thing." He said, carefully adding just a slight edge of annoyance to his tone. Why was it he did that? He kind of liked it that she had made her way (if slightly forcefully) into his life. He had even come to enjoy her company, which was an altogether new feeling. He usually didn't like people at all. _

"_Looking for you of course!" She replied, pouting. That took him aback. Why was she looking for him? He hadn't exactly given her the best of company. She giggled._

"_Hey, you're giving me the rabbit look again!" She said, smiling at him._

"_Huh?! I don't have a rabbit look!" Train replied indignantly, his cheeks going red._

"_Sure you do, you give me a look like you're a rabbit caught in the headlights at the strangest moments! I'm not that weird, am I?"_

"_I wouldn't go as far as saying that." Train muttered._

"_Hey!" This time it was her time to blush, and she scowled at him even more when he gave a smirk. He turned away, but could feel her glares even when he wasn't looking at her. He began to think about the first time he had killed someone. It was in the ice cold rain, just like-_

"_No way, you're not going to just go back to your brooding, not on me you're not!" She burst her way into his thoughts again, and he turned to meet her gaze._

"_What is it you want? I haven't got any milk, if that's what you're after." He said lethargically. _

"_Liar!" She yelled back at him._

"_Huh?"_

"_There were ten in your fridge. You just broke the bridge of trust."_

"_The bridge of-?!" Train began, then realised "Hey, wait, how do you know what's in my fridge anyway?!"_

"_Hey, uh, um- Hey, I just realised that this is the most I've ever heard you speak!" She said, a little too innocently as she tried to change the subject. His facial expression didn't soften in the slightest. Saya gave a childish grin._

"_Well- you see- I was looking for you in your apartment because I didn't think you'd be outside because it was raining so hard, so-"_

"_What, how did you even get into my apartment?!"_

"_Huh? Rude, I went to all of that trouble looking for you!"_

_Train raised his eyebrows at her, and felt the corners of his mouth move up slightly as he contemplated how childish she was. He had to be more careful, he thought. He couldn't let his emotions show like that..._

"_Hey, wait!" He said, the horror dawning on him. "You said that there __**were**__ ten milk bottles in my fridge._"

_She gave a nervous giggle. "It's not my fault- when I broke- I mean, ah, got in- I got really bored and thirsty waiting for you, so, um..."_

_Train sighed. Now he would have to buy more. Honestly, that girl was draining him of his income..._

"_Come on, come inside, I'm not hanging out here when it's raining so much!_"_ She shouted at him over the sound of the torrential storm, and before he had time to react, she had grabbed hold of his hand and was dragging him away from the bench where he had been sitting._

"_Hey- wait- what?" He blurted out in surprise and confusion._

"_What's that funny face supposed to be?" she giggled as she caught a glimpse of his bewildered expression._

"_What, I'm not pulling a funny face!"_

"_Are too!"_

"_Am not!" _

"_Are too!"_

"_Am not!"_

"_Am not!"_

"_**Are too**__!" Train realised his mistake when Saya fist punched the air._

"_Hah, tricked you! You said 'Are too'!" She grinned mischievously. _

"_I noticed." Train said, acting as if he didn't care but cursing internally. But then, suddenly, all he could think about was how warm and soft Saya's hand was..._

"_Hey, Train-kun- earth to Train-kun!"_

"_Huh, what?" He said defensively, feeling his cheeks burning. He noted they were walking down some stairs now, the wind and rain muffled by the closed door behind them_

"_I said your hand is freezing! How long were you out there?!"_

_He shrugged in response, and Saya sighed. "Honestly, you'll get a fever if you do things like that!"_

_They continued to walk a little while longer until they made it to a door, and Saya let go of Train's hand then fumbled in her giant sleeves for a few seconds before pulling out her keys. _

"_Kimono sleeves are great for keeping things in!" She explained. Train however, found himself missing the warmth of her hand..._

"_Well, this is home!_" _She said, opening the door. "Tada!" _

_The room was organised, but in a messy kind of way, and it was more colourful than his own apartment. The kotatsu was placed by the fire place, and the overhead lamps were not just simple light bulbs, but instead elaborately decorated lanterns. There was a pale red sofa positioned in front of a cheap TV, on top of which sat a __Maneki-neko. The only white wall was half painted blue, while the others were green, a tactful peach colour and yellow. A deep blue rug was positioned over the floor boards. Train noticed __there were little doodles and paper cuttings strewn across the kotatsu, and Saya gasped out in horror, suddenly putting her hand over his eyes. _

"_Stay out there, a sec!" She yelled at him as she pushed him out the room and slammed the door. Train was left standing outside feeling slightly bewildered, and felt slightly worried when he heard a loud "__**Thump**_" _and a clatter of objects as Saya was presumably hiding something. Train didn't like to think what. He contemplated leaving while she was still inside. Besides, it wasn't like she knew the truth... but then the door opened just as he was turning away. _

"_You can come in now-" She smiled, and then realised he had been planning to do._

"_Hey- where the hell do you think you're going?"_

"_I'm busy." He replied automatically._

"_But you said you'd come!"_

"_No I didn't." He said matter-of-factly. _

"_Well, Mr-I'm-too-cool-to-talk-to-you, it is my mission to make sure you do __**not**__ go back to your brooding!" She stated, and dragged him into the room before he could do anything to protest, slamming the door behind them._

"_I wasn't going to brood." Train muttered._

"_Whatever." Saya said disbelievingly as she chucked him a towel. "Dry yourself, take your coat of and take a seat at the kotatsu." She called after him as she walked through another door. A little black cat brushed against her legs as she walked. "Hey, __Koneko-chan." She said to it, and it gave a little 'meow'. _

_Train hung his soaking coat and dried his drenched hair with the white towel. His hair sprung back up to its usual spiky state, if a little messily. He looked over at the kotatsu, which was now clear of Saya's doodles and the pieces of paper. He wondered what they were for… He took a seat at the kotatsu, and the kitten Saya had called "Koneko-chan" leaped into his lap. He stroked it absent mindedly as he contemplated the situation. _

"_I'm … round a friend's house? Is that the term for it?" Train thought, frowning. He didn't remember doing that before… "Wait, does that mean that Saya is… a friend? But this all seems so weird… Is this what it's like to be normal…? Scratch that, this is Saya we're talking about here. She's __**far**__ from normal." The fireplace was warming the room quickly, and he could feel his clothes drying in the warmth of his friend's apartment. Koneko-chan rolled around on his lap and he gave it a little tickle under the chin, smiling slightly._

"_Awww!" He heard a voice say, _

"_Hey!" he said defensively, and he whipped round to see Saya standing there, an expression of: "that-is-so-adorable!" on her face. But what surprised him was the fact that she was wearing a normal t-shirt, a blue skirt and leggings. Her hair was no longer plastered to her face and she looked…_

"_You look…" Train began. Saya's eyes were lighting up. "You look… __**almost**__ normal."_

_Saya proceeded to grab hold of his cheeks and stretch in an attempt to tear his skin off._

"_OWW! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"_

"_YOU BASTARD, TAKE IT BACK!"_

"_WHAT DID I- OWW- DO?!"_

"_YOU RUINED THE MOMENT!"_

"_WHAT MOMENT?"_

"…"

"_What?!"_

"_You're so dense, Train-kun." She sniffed._

"_No I'm not."_

"_Yes, you are."_

"_No I'm- hey, I'm not falling for this again."_

_The sweeper sighed. "Oh well, it was worth a try." The next few seconds were somehow awkward between them, although Train couldn't think why. Finally Saya broke the silence:_

"_Oh well, now that you're here and you're getting along so well with Koneko-chan, you might as well have dinner with me!" She said cheerfully, and bounded through another door, which was painted sky blue. Soon, there was the smell of cooking food coming from the room, and Train watched from where he was sitting as Saya worked through the open door, humming her signature song softly to herself. Train gazed out the window at the rain outside. It felt so peaceful, being inside whilst it rained. _

"_Pasta!" His hyper active friend yelled triumphantly in his face as she slammed the plate in front of him. He yelped out in surprise and fell over backwards, much to her delight, apparently, as she had practically doubled over from laughing so hard._

"_You're so funny, Train-kun!" He glared at her, rubbing the side of his head which he had hit as he fell. "Well, eat your food!" She said as she sat down beside him, giving him an infectious smile he had to try very hard not to return. While they ate, they talked. Well, mainly she talked, but Train had contributed to the conversation (although, mainly he only spoke to use indignant retorts when she teased him). And then, Saya said:_

"_Isn't it nice we've finally got to do something like this together without one of your mission's getting in the way?"_

_He practically choked on his pasta, and his facial expression was one of complete and utter shock._

"_Wha-what?" He stammered, staring at her in disbelief._

"_What's wrong?" She asked, confused, after she finished her mouthful of pasta. The silence passed between them as Train sat there stunned._

"_You-" He said, "You __**know**__?" He finished incredulously. Saya looked at him, confused._

"_About you being Black Cat? Well, of course I know! It's kind of obvious." She replied._

"_**Obvious**__?"_

"_Well, being a sweeper, I'd have to be a complete idiot not to notice your number, for starters." She said, flicking the Roman numeral engraved in __his__ chest with her finger._

"_Please don't tell me I look that stupid!" She said, slightly hurt._

_Train stared at her, unable to comprehend why it was that she… and then he realized._

"_I don't want your pity, so don't bother." He said, without looking at her. There was a pause and he didn't understand why he felt so empty all of a sudden. _

"_Train-kun." Saya said softly. He continued to stare at the ground._

"_I don't want to be your friend because I pity you. I want to be your friend because I like you for who you are." Train looked up at her, once again surprised. She simply smiled warmly at him. _

"_And I don't mean as the Black Cat. I mean the __**real **__you."_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"_Sven!_" Yelled Rinslet as he collapsed onto the ground. They had been searching for three days now, and without hardly any rest. Rinslet ran over to where the exhausted man was trying to push himself up from the ground.

"Sven! Sven, are you alright?!" She asked in panicked concern. Sven grunted his response as he picked his hat up from the dirty road. He sounded like he was in pain.

"Listen to me, you've got to take a break or you'll kill yourself, and I'm not even exaggerating here!" She tried to persuade him.

"No!" He replied quickly. She opened her mouth to protest but he continued: "It was my fault." He said, his voice thick with guilt and exhaustion. "I shouted at him so now I have to bring him back. My health isn't relevant right now." He grimaced as he heaved himself off the ground, leaving Rinslet to do nothing but follow him and hope that they found Train before it was too late.

* * *

Eve traced the dried blood with her finger. Something felt like it was stuck in her throat, and she felt a horrible sensation of fluttering inside of her as she began to panic.

"Blood." She whispered. Somehow, she knew that it was Train's. She ran after the trail long the rooftop, stumbling and grazing her knees, hardly registering the pain and unable to think straight as fear threatened to swallow her up. She slipped and hit the tiles of a sloping rooftop, rolling and skidding roughly, leaving her feeling winded as she started to fall. She twisted her body to face the ground and spread her wings in the small space between the two buildings, and launched herself upwards as she kicked off from the wall. Then there was nothing but the sound of the wind whistling in her ears, her wings beating against the air and the same thoughts she heard go round in her head over and over again:

"_Don't be dead Train. Please don't be dead."_

* * *

Train opened his eyes. The room was not colourful. There was no kotatsu or paper lanterns. It was plain, empty and uninhabited, the white walls undecorated and the dusty floor the evidence it had never been occupied. The golden light of evening seeped through the grimy window and now shadows were cast due to the lack of belongings. And he couldn't feel a thing other that bitter disappointment.

His whole body felt stiff, and he felt thirstier and hungrier than ever, suggesting that he had been there for more than a day. He didn't attempt to move, but sat there gazing at the white walls, his eyes reflecting pain and betrayal.

"_I don't want to be your friend because I pity you. I want to be your friend because I like you for who you are. And I don't mean as the Black Cat. I mean the __**real **__you."_

How could he have ever believed that someone had _actually_ said that? Anyone who did was clearly out of their minds. He was of his mind to persuade himself that it was true. What had happened when he had come here, anyway? All those times he had visited here with _her_. Had he just broken in here and talked to himself all that time, comforting himself and making himself believe that he was _worth _something? It was a surprise no one had called the police, or that he hadn't been found out by someone from Chronos and executed for "instability of mind". He didn't know how long he sat there, wishing that they had. What was the point of trying to escape, anyway? But… maybe if they didn't find him in time, he would just be able to die. It couldn't be that long, could it? It felt like an eternity since he had drunk the water from the water fountain, and he was already feeling light headed and dehydrated. He must have been here for more than two days.

The room was getting dimmer. He hadn't realized that he had closed his eyes until the darkness had seemed to surround him. He also didn't notice that he was crying until the taste of salt hit his tongue. Opening his eyes, he raised a hand to his cheek then took it away. His fingers were covered in the strange, watery substance. He gazed at it, surprised. He couldn't remember doing that before. Then, he was gasping out sobs of grief and shaking.

"_Why?! Why couldn't you be real?!_"

He remembered the way she had smiled at him.

"_You gave me something to live for, and then…"_

She had always laughed at him too.

"_Why? Why did the thing I care about most turn out to be a lie?!"_

She had taken his hand.

"_Saya…" _He uttered her name for the first time in over half a year. He missed the way her name rolled off his tongue every time he said it. He missed _her_. How was it possible to miss someone _this much_? He missed her even more now that he knew that she wasn't real. That he had to ignore her when she appeared to him when he lay in his hospital bed. He gasped out his grief until he was dry. And then he sat there, emotionlessly, staring into nothing. He noticed after a while that there was a crashing noise from above him. He didn't move. There was the sound of someone's running feet on stairs, and then the sound was getting louder. "_Please, please don't be them._" He thought desperately. There was another second, and the broken door flung open.

When Eve saw Train, she gasped out in shock. He had collapsed onto the floor, and looked like he was on death's door. What was he doing in a place like this, anyway?

"Train?_"_ She whispered as she gazed at his motionless body. He looked up at her with his dull eyes.

"Princess? What are you doing here?!" He said, almost angrily but mainly scared despite the fact he was exhausted. No one was meant to find him. Why couldn't anyone understand that?

"_Train, you're alive!" _She gasped out in relief, starting to run over, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Yes, he was alive. Why was he alive? This wasn't supposed to happen.

Suddenly, there was a loud _CRASH_, and ten people like those who had kidnapped him before burst into the room. Eve was knocked over as they rushed past her and grabbed hold of her brother. He looked shocked. Soon, they were roughly dragging him out the room.

"We need to get him into the ambulance- NOW!" One of them shouted.

"_No, stop, you're hurting him!_" She screamed at them, as his head knocked roughly against the floor boards and he gasped out in pain. "_Please, listen to me!" _She begged. They ignored her.

"No…" Train said, and Eve saw him start to panic. "NO!" He said, louder and with a new found energy as he tried to cling onto the floor boards and anchor himself to the room, but the one he had hold of slipped beneath his fingers. His nails left marks and scratches in the wood.

"_SHE WAS HERE! RIGHT HERE!" _He shouted, "_SHE LIVED HERE, LISTEN TO ME! LET GO, PLEASE!"_ He was begging. He was pleading. For his release and her existence, which he needed so desperately. They dragged him out the room, and he writhed and screamed. Eve watched, unable to move other than shaking, as Train managed to knock one of the guards unconscious. One of the masked men drew a tranquilising syringe and stabbed it into Train's neck, whose eyes grew cloudy and he fell unconscious. They carried him and the unconscious man away from the room. Eve stumbled backwards and collapsed against the wall.

* * *

"_You found him?!"_ Sven yelled at Doctor Subditus through the phone. Rinslet jumped up from where she had been sitting hopefully.

"We'll get there right away." He said before he hung up.

"Let's go!" Rinslet said, and the sweeper nodded. He called a taxi and the journey felt far too long as they willed it to go faster. It parked outside the hospital and Sven thrust the money into the drivers hand before sprinting towards the building, Rinslet right behind. As they entered the foyer, Rinslet saw the doctor called Sarah. "Hey, where is he?!" She said desperately.

"He's unconscious right now." She replied, "But Doctor Subditus wants to talk to-"

"Mr Vollfield. Miss Walker." The old doctor's voice interrupted as he approached them.

"Is Train alright?" Sven asked immediately.

"He has been extremely malnourished and dehydrated, and he is bleeding from his feet, hands and head. However, he should recover." Subditus replied. They both let out a sigh of relief.

"Can we see him?" Sven questioned anxiously. The doctor paused before he answered.

"For a short while." He nodded.

* * *

Someone had swept up the broken glass that had been scattered across the floor, and the broken bars had been replaced with pristine replicas. Train was unconscious, but his pale face, now more gaunt than ever, held an expression of pain. Sven sat down on the seat and put his head in his hands while Rinslet looked at her malnourished friend in shock. The sound of his laboured breathing was slightly muffled by the oxygen mask, and the usual amount of tubes that fed him had doubled. She could see that his head and hands were bandaged, and the sound of a heart monitor that had not been present before bleeped a steady rhythm.

"God damn it, Train..." Sven muttered at the sight of his partner. "What did he think he was doing?! He could of gotten himself killed!"

"I think..." Whispered Rinslet, "that he may have been trying to." Sven froze, and fell silent when he realised that she was probably right. The silence continued for what felt like a long time, and Sven found himself worrying about something he couldn't quite place his finger on. After a while, the door clicked open, and they both turned to see Sarah peer through the door.

"Excuse me, Mr Vollfied, Miss Walker, Doctor Subditus would like to speak to you for a moment."

"Right now?" Asked Sven, wanting to stay and make sure his friend was going to be Ok

"Yes, right now." The girl nodded apologetically.

"Ok." Sven replied reluctantly, and he and Rinslet both stood up and left the room, glancing back at Train anxiously as the door closed behind them.

* * *

She suddenly knew what people meant when they said it no good came of bottling up your emotions. The sound of her own screams filled the room as she crouched on the floor hugging her knees, tears streaming down her face and hands pressed painfully against her ears, as if blocking out the sound of the world she had found herself in would mean it would go away. That she would just wake up and everything would turn back to normal, the three of them being sweepers and Train being just like he used to. She kicked and punched the wall before her knees suddenly felt weak and she slid to the floor, her face buried in her hands.

* * *

"I'm sorry, but we need to carry out the final operation."

Sven and Rinslet looked at Subditus incredulously. "_Say what_?!" they blurted out simultaneously.

"We must prevent another episode like this happening again." He answered bluntly.

"_But- but you can't, not in the state he's in!" _Sven shouted.

"Listen to me, Mr Vollfied!" The Subditus said, putting his foot down. "This operation must be carried out to prevent him from having these hallucinations. If he escapes again, it will only mean he will harm himself further. Do not get in the way!"

It was half an hour later that Sven and Rinslet had finally agreed with Doctor Subditus, that Sven realised what had been nagging at the back of his mind.

"Rinslet, where's Eve?"

She stared back at him in horror.

"Where is she?" He repeated. His friend looked answerlessly back at him.

"_Where's Eve gone?"_

* * *

**Sorry for not updating for so long! School decided it would be fun to give me a thousand years of homework and on top of that I had writers block :'( Anyway, I hope you enjoyed or were depressed by this chapter... (Sorry, I have a severe condition of sadist-author-itus.) Anyway, please reveiw :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"Sven, calm down!" Rinslet yelled at him.

"She's not in the waiting room, she's not in Train's room and I can't see her anywhere in the grounds! You expect me to _calm down_?!" He snapped back at her.

"Look, she probably just went looking for Train." She tried to sooth him.

"So she's on her own! What if some psycho tries to kidnap her again?"

"You mean the girl with the long blonde hair?" cut in a voice, and the two of them turned to see a nurse they did not recognise standing there.

"You've seen her?" Sven asked sharply.

"She was sitting there, and she said something about _blood_ I think." The nurse frowned as he recalled the events. "I think I saw her get up and leave the room after that. Strange girl, that one." Her last comment caused Sven's eyes to narrow, but Rinslet cut in before he could retaliate.

"When was this?" She asked.

"The morning after the _psychopath_ escaped, I think." The nurse replied tactlessly.

"_Thank you __**very **__much_." Sven said glaring at the nurse and clenching his fists, beginning to like her less and less. People kept on judging them. Looking at them, and seeing nothing but someone that was different, without even thinking about what they had been through. He'd had enough-

"Sven, we haven't got time for this. C'mon!" Rinslet whispered to him in an undertone. "If Eve smelt blood, then she was probably following Train's. He was bleeding all over, remember?" Sven turned to her. The nurse looked at them quizzically.

"So, we just have to find where they found Train to find Eve, right?" She continued. Sven looked at her, but caught sight of a figure in the corner of his eye.

"_Subditus!_" He shouted. The doctor turned. "_Where did they find Train?_"

"Well, Mr Vollfied, um-" He began, appearing startled. The nurse gave them a look Sven chose to ignore and strutted away, muttering something that sounded like "_Lunatics_." To her self

"_Tell me!_" He bellowed again when Subditus didn't reply immediately.

"It was in an apartment building in Hiroshima- _Mr Vollfied, Miss Walker, where are you going?!" _He asked bewildered as the two of them sprinted away from him down the corridor.

"To find Eve!" They replied simultaneously.

They made it to the car, and Sven fumbled for his keys. "God damn it, Hiroshima is almost ninety miles away!" He said in frustration, slamming the car door and stabbing the keys into the ignition.

"Do you know how to get there?" Rinslet asked.

"Yes, I took Eve there to see Annette the other day."

"Ok, quick, just drive!" She replied, and Sven slammed his foot down on the pedal, and then they were speeding recklessly along the road.

* * *

Bright. It was too bright. The glaring sun stung his eyes as they flickered open. After a few moments, the white ceiling came into view. That surprised him. How did he get... No, of course. They had found him, he thought bitterly. After lying there for some time, he tried to force himself to sit up, and failed to stop a short gasp of pain escaping his lips. He gently tried to lower himself back down, hissing through his teeth. Lying on the bed, he noticed the bandages and tubes the doctors had now manifested him with. His body ached more than ever now, but he could tell he was going to survive after all this treatment. "_Great"_. He muttered to himself.

The ticking of the clock filled in the space when the heart monitor. Train glanced at it, and was surprised to see the time. "_Shouldn't Sven, Rinslet or the Princess be here right now?_" He thought, thinking it strange they weren't visiting at the appointed time. Maybe they were mad at him... He wouldn't blame them if that was true. The door suddenly clicked open. Train turned hopefully to the door, but the person who entered was not any of his friends.

"So, Train!" Doctor Subditus smiled. Train said nothing, merely staring back at the man with dull eyes.

"It's time for your final operation!"

* * *

"_For god's sake!"_ Sven yelled as he pushed down on the pedal, trying to force their way through the snow. "How could it be snowing at this time of year?!" The forest of cars on the busy road were doing nothing to help the situation either, either stuck and in the way themselves, or laughing and jeering at the two of them stuck in the ancient car.

"JACK-ASS!" Rinslet yelled at one of them as they drove past and slithered through the snow easily, playing loud music and sneering. "Try again, Sven!" She said. The attempt was futile, even with her pushing the car from behind.

"It's no good." He gave in, slumping back against his seat. Of course something would go wrong. Everything always did.

"Sven, come on, we're just going to have to go by foot!" After pausing for a moment, he abandoned his beloved (but useless) car in the snow and followed her as she ran through the snow.

* * *

They carried out some tests on him before he entered the dreaded room, in case the operation was too dangerous in his current state. He let them, too tired to retaliate. Sarah took his blood pressure, feeling a pang of sadness hit her as she saw the look on his face. She glanced away from his miserable expression, feeling guilty.

"We've got to get you to the operation room now, okay?" She said, and wasn't surprised when he did nothing to react.

* * *

"Excuse me, Sir, have you seen a girl with long blonde hair?"

"Hello, please can you tell me if you've seen a blonde girl with pink eyes?"

"Are you sure you haven't seen her?"

"She's wearing a black dress."

"No, I'm sorry: that's not her."

"If you do, let her know we're looking for her, _please_!"

"EVE!"

"THEY FOUND TRAIN, COME BACK!"

"EVE! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Making it to Hiroshima had been half of the story. Now they were exhausted, hungry, and hardly any closer to finding her.

"Any luck?" Rinslet asked him. As they met up in the square.

"No, I had a false lead." Sven shook his head. He began to wonder if they would ever find her.

* * *

He felt oddly numb as they steered him down the long corridor. As usual, people flinched away from him. It didn't matter. He was used to it.

* * *

Eve took one last look at the room, and began to walk back towards the door. They had taken Train away about five hours ago, and Sven was probably worried about her by now. The thought hit her like a punch in the stomach.

She was half way across the room when suddenly the world was falling away beneath her, the room was turning, and she hit the wooden floorboards with a thud. She could feel a sharp pain at the back of her head and her back was groaning. How could she have fallen over like that? Getting up and rubbing her head, she noticed her leg was stinging slightly from an angry graze on her pale skin, caused by the loose floor board Train had moved. It must have slipped under her feet. Annoyed by the poor fitting of the floor, she was about to put the floor board back into place when she saw something wedged deeply in the gap, almost completely concealed. It was blue. Not knowing why, she reached in and grabbed hold of the object. As she pulled it out, she realised it was a book. On the front someone had painted the words:

_The Scrap Book of Awesome!_

_(and milk!)_

"_And… Milk?" _Eve thought, baffled. Eve opened the book curiously, wandering what was inside this book of "_Awesome and Milk_". The first page looked like a letter, or on further inspection, a birthday card:

_Happy birthday! (Well, sort of…) _

_You said when I asked that you didn't know when your birthday was, so it's officially today, August the fifteenth!_

The date rang a bell in Eve's mind for some reason. She continued to read.

_It's going to be every year, so don't think you're getting out of this one! Anyway, this is your present, I hope you love it!_

There was a little doodle of a cat at the bottom of the page. Eve wondered who the scrap book was for. She turned the page, and what she saw made her heart drop through her stomach. She dropped the book and stood up. What surprised her second most was that Train was in the photo, wearing his Chronos uniform. What surprised her the most… was that there was a girl with short dark hair and bright blue eyes wearing a kimono in the picture as well.

"_**She had bright blue eyes and short dark hair! She always insisted on wearing a kimono and she was the weirdest and most brilliant person I ever met!"**_

Train's words from so long ago echoed in her head. "But-but this is- How?!" She gasped aloud, stunned. She stared at the photo. Train looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights, eyes wide with shock and surprise. It looked like the girl had gotten the camera out so suddenly she had taken the photo before Train could stop her. But wait... This girl was Saya! How was that even possible? Saya was looking into the camera, grinning mischievously... Her eyes reminded her of Train's...

Eve tore her eyes away from the photo and turned the page. It was full of different photographs. One was of a vast number of empty glass bottles, with a caption above reading: "_All the bottles of milk I stole from you_". Another was of a little white cat, with writing next to it saying "_The white kitten you like to feed!_" Eve could see Train's hand stroking the cat in the picture.

The next page was a water colour of the view of the rooftops above, under a starry sky. She turned page after page, which was full of more photographs and little drawings. She laughed out loud when she saw a Neko-chibi picture of Train Saya had drawn. "_She had put so much effort into making this..." _She thought. She froze and the smile faded from her face when she turned to the last page. It had a poster stuck to it.

**FIREWORK FESTIVAL**

**AUGUST THE FIFTEENTH.**

**PARADES****, **ARCADE STALLS**AND ****FUNFAIRS **

**AT OUR CITY'S ****VERY OWN **LEGENDARY**FIREWORKS FESTIVAL****!**

Next to it was Saya's handwriting. Eve's throat very dry as she read what it said.

_If things have gone according to plan, we will have just got back from the firework festival when I give this to you! That was your other birthday treat ^_^. Anyway, we've got to keep filling this scrapbook up with all the things we're going to do, because it's still only half full! Thanks for the Lamune, by the way! _

That was where the scrapbook ended. August the fifteenth. The day she had wanted to see the fireworks. The day she wanted to celebrate Train's birthday. The day she died. She never even got to give him his present. Eve turned back to the photo of Train and Saya. The girl looked so alive and energetic... it was hard to believe... that she had...

"_But she was real_." She thought. "_She was..." _Before she knew it, Eve was running through the streets clutching the scrapbook, barging into more people than she could count. Until eventually, she barged into Sven.

"_EVE! WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!" _He gasped (or shouted) in relief, pulling her into an embrace. Rinslet came around the corner.

"Thank god, Eve you're OK-" she began,

"_She's real_!" Eve interrupted her, gasping for breath.

"Huh?" Sven and Rinslet said simultaneously.

"_Listen to me_!" She continued desperately, her eyes brimming with tears, "_They tricked us! Look at this!"_ She thrust the scrapbook at them, and they looked at her in bewilderment. After a moment Sven took it, and his and Rinslet's eyes widened as they flipped through the pages. There were a few moments of stunned silence.

"What- but how?!" Said Rinslet,

"Wait- Train's final operation!" Sven gasped.

"Final operation?" Eve asked in confusion.

"If it's not for schizophrenia, then what..." He trailed off as realisation dawned on him, at the same time as his friends gasped when they worked out the answer. And then they were running, dread rising up and threatening to drown them as they gasped at the surface, breathing in desperation.

* * *

**Authors note- Mwahahaha! Did I have you fooled? Anyway, thank you for reading ^_^ I'll write the next chapter... at some point... Anyway, please review :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**Note- I have got rid of Sephiria in this chapter because she was kind of pointless. Other than that, it's basically the same. Enjoy :)**

Something about the girl in the photo had stirred something in Rinslet's memory. "_Come on, now's not the time to get distracted!"_ She cursed, looking ahead of herself and trying to concentrate on running. Her legs were beginning to feel numb beneath her as she forced them to run like clockwork, her feet slamming repeatedly on the ground as she and her friends sprinted through the crowds of people. There was no point trying to take public transport now that their car was stuck in the snow in the middle of nowhere: the ice had caused everything to grind to a halt. But... she couldn't shake the feeling- no- the certainty that she had seen Saya somewhere before.

"Eve, Sven!" she gasped in between gulps of air. This was important. Somehow, she knew it was really important.

"What?" Sven grunted back breathlessly.

"I recognise her! From somewhere." She replied.

"Because her eyes are like Train's?" Inputted Eve. She was right. Even though they were neither the same colour or shape, they seemed to hold some kind of similarity Rinslet couldn't place. As they were running through a deserted street, Rinslet suddenly realised that Sven was no longer running with them. Turning round, she saw that he was standing still, staring at the ground.

"Sven?" Eve asked nervously. "What are you-"

"There's no point." He said back hopelessly.

"What do you mean there's no-?!" Rinslet began angrily.

"_There's no point because there's no way we could ever get there in time!" _He punched the wall to the left. "_We have no means of transport and we're ninety miles away! There's no way any of us could get there in a few minutes, even if Eve flew as fast as she could!"_

They stood still for some time when they realised that he was right.

"But- but..." Eve stammered, and she sank to her knees. Rinslet stared at Sven and then Eve in disbelief, and found her heart sinking as well. They had let this happen. If they had just... if they had found this book before... then... and now Train was going to... to-

"Well, I didn't expect you, of all people, to just _give_ _up_." A familiar voice drawled. The three of them whipped around to see a man with silver hair and wearing a blue cape (like he had during the Eden incident) leaning against a wall with his arms folded, his repaired sword tucked in his holster a rose held in his mouth.

"_Creed!?_" They gasped. He raised his eyebrows at them as they got into a fighting stance.

"Honestly, you people always assume my intentions are the offensive." He commented calmly.

"What do you want?" Demanded Sven, "Did _you_ do this?" It had to be the only explanation. Creed hated Saya; they all knew that.

"No." He replied, his eyes narrowing. "But I just discovered that someone _did_."

"Bull-shit." Sven replied angrily.

"Do you want our help or not?" Another voice cut in, and Echidna Parrass stepped out of the shadows.

"How do we know we can trust you?" Eve asked, glaring at them.

"We helped at Eden didn't we?" Creed said, looking slightly hurt.

"That was for your own good as much as ours." Sven said disbelievingly.

"Yeah, and we all know how much you hate Saya!" Rinslet shouted at him.

"I regret what I did to that woman." Creed said, his eyes serious. They looked at him in surprise "But right now what I want to do is save Train and stop whoever these people are."

"You mean you don't know?" Sven asked incredulously.

"I only discovered these events a little less than an hour ago" He replied.

"How do we know they're are telling the truth?" Rinslet said under her breath, turning to Sven and Eve.

"We don't. But what choice do we have?" Sven replied. The previous apostles waited as the three friends had a heated discussion. Finally, they turned to them.

"We'll trust you." Said Sven.

"Yeah, but try anything and we'll-" Rinslet began, but she was interrupted.

"It's an alliance!" Creed said triumphantly. "Echidna?" he said to his lover, who nodded and drew a circle in the air with a manicured finger. There was a shining light, and a portal appeared in the air. Sounds of space and time echoed through it as it shimmered in the air, its purple and ambiguous depths carved deep into reality.

"After you." She said to them. There was a pause, and Sven, Rinslet and Eve stepped through. Then, Creed (drawing his sword) and Echidna followed. The hole closed behind them as if it had never been there, just before a crowd of children ran into the street, throwing snow at one another.

* * *

The experience was disorientating, to say the least. It was a little like feeling your way through the dark, at yet the same time with something pushing you forcefully in the right direction from behind. The ground didn't feel completely steady, or even entirely there, and random whispers echoed through the continuous and non-existent space around. Just as Sven was beginning to feel light headed, a white floor appeared beneath him and he collapsed onto it. After a few moments of brightness, a sanitised corridor appeared, and he noticed his friends were on their knees as well. Creed and Echidna remained standing. People around them were gasping in disbelief.

"Where did they come from?"

"Did you _see_ that?"

"_It's like they appeared out of thin air!_"

"Hey, wait they're _armed!"_

The hallway was suddenly full of commotion, but none of them were interested in it. They followed an unspoken agreement to run. The sign that the corridors were not full of screams of agony meant that they were either there on time... or were far too late.

Suddenly, a figure wearing a white coat with white hair was in front of them, walking with his back turned to them.

"_YOU SON OF A BITCH!"_ Sven shouted at him, and landed a punch on the side of his head before the "doctor" had time to react. Creed swiped his sword at the man, but suddenly the room was full of dust as a loud noise struck the sir. Sven fell backwards. Rinslet found herself caught in a head lock. Eve tried to transform, but felt someone grab hold of her from behind and hand cuff her hands. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't change form. As the dust cleared, and struggling against the masked person who now had hold of her, she saw that Echidna was forced onto her knees and Creed had taken a heavy blow to the face. Masked figures had filled the whole corridor now, and they each had several to pin them down.

"LET US GO!" Sven yelled.

"Oh, I don't think so." Subditus said apathetically. He was holding a long and menacing scythe in his right hand, which had caused the explosion and left long and deep gash in the floor. "So, what brings this change of attitude on all of a sudden?" He asked casually, a smug expression spread across his face. "And my, my, what have we here? A the fallen Taoist and Echidna Parrass? You brought your friends to stop me did you?" He said, smirking at the trio. "Maybe after we're done here, I could use this young lady for... _pleasure?_" He licked his lips, stroking the blade of his weapon. Echidna glared at him.

"_HOW DARE YOU?!" _Creed screamed, and attempted to break free, his sword raised, ready to strike. But somehow, he was on the ground again, and the sword had slid across the floor. Echidna gasped. Subditus had almost moved faster than they could see. "Pitiful." He commented, tilting his head as he viewed the man on the floor.

"But-but how-?!" Creed began. "_Creed!_" Echidna shouted, and glared at his attacker, but could not escape from those restraining her.

"Make sure he doesn't try anything again." Subditus ordered coldly to the masked men in black, who grabbed hold of him.

"Doctor Subditus, what are you-?!" A voice began as its owner stepped out of one of the rooms, but then he sent Sarah flying across the room with a single blow. She landed on the floor a little way behind Eve, and gasped out in pain. The masked men grabbed hold of her too, and she looked at Subditus in bewilderment. "Sir, what's going on-?!" She gasped angrily.

"_Silence, you ignorant girl!" _He shouted back at her. She stopped talking, and a cold fear crept over her. "_All you idiots are-"_

"_We know you're a fake!_" Eve interrupted him. "_I found this!"_ She held up the scrapbook she still clutched in her hands, which was turned to the photograph. "She hid it under the floor boards! You didn't expect that, did you?!" When he saw the photo, Subditus laughed at them. A cold laugh that sounded like ice. His crimson eyes widened with his grin, and he changed from a calm medical expert into someone who looked deranged.

"_Finally worked it out did you?" _He sneered when he had finally stopped laughing. "I have to say, I hadn't expected her to be hiding something like _that_. _And after all the trouble I went to erasing her from existence!" _

"Why?" Shouted Rinslet. "Why would you do this?"

"Who are you?" Sven yelled.

"_Maybe if your friend had trusted you enough, it would be easier to explain!" _The man before them replied.

"_What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" _Sven spat back, glaring at him.

"Doctor 'Subditus'! If you were civilised, cultured people, you would have known I was a hoax from the very moment I told you my name!" He laughed insanely again, "I would have thought the bio-weapon would have worked it out, at least!"

"_Answer me!"_ Sven demanded, struggling against the people restraining him.

"The word 'Subditus' is Latin for pretending, or counterfeiting, you nescient scum!" He replied in-between bursts of manic laughter. "As for my real identity, my name is Katsuro Kobayashi. Train will remember my brother well." He paused and looked at their confusion, amusement written across his face.

"Zaguine was his name. He taught that _boy_ the true values in this world after ending the lives of his _disgusting parasites_ of a mother and father!"

Sarah gasped.

"_He taught him that no-one in this world can be trusted! Every person you meet during your vile existence is either enemy, or prey! You must be stronger than everyone! And you must live alone! He taught him how to use a gun- how to __**kill**__! My brother spent six years drilling the truth into the head of that worthless boy, **he is the reason he became the Black Cat!** And then- because of that __**girl**__- he threw it all away! MY OWN BLOOD'S WORK IS FOR NOTHING!"_

They stared at Katsuro as his face contorted to an expression intense fury.

"_I followed our beliefs, so I therefore was the one to kill my brother!" _He continued, and smirked at their horrified expressions. "_But I will not allow all his efforts to be destroyed without being avenged!" _He smiled a wide, joyless smile. "So, I devised a plan. I would make the child and all his insignificant '_friends_' suffer. Slowly. From the inside out until you all _die_! It wasn't a great trouble to fool you all. I was surprised, but pleased with how quickly you believed me. To fool Train, well I had to trick him he had the condition. The _medication _I created made sure of that. I expect the _hallucinations_ he experienced were quite _horrific_."

Train's screams began to echo through the white corridors once more. Katsuro gave a satisfied smirk. "Ahh, the sound of my contraption working. It isn't convulsive therapy, by the way. Christ, even if it was, surely you would have _realised _that kind of treatment is illegal?! Fortunately, it is mo matter that you have chosen this moment to get in the way. He will be _dead _soon enough. Let's say... his body couldn't take the strain he was under? And, seeing as I don't want any of you to go _gabbling_, the bio-weapon _killed_ all of you and _herself _in her _grief_, hmmm? It would explain the _injuries_ that caused your deaths!"

The madman raised his scythe above his head and ran towards Eve first, bringing it down. "_NO!"_ Sarah screamed, as she broke free from the masked men who had hold of her and dived in front of Eve, shielding her as they both closed their eyes, preparing for the impact.

* * *

**I love writing what the bad guys say :D Thanks for reading! All your support has been awesome ^_^**


End file.
